University of Mary Washington - Index

University of Mary Washington - summer08 - Index

Jennifer Reynolds has worked her
way up at Mary Washington Hospital,
from pharmacy technician to manager
of a five-person senior care services
department. But the 42-year-old mother
needs a master’s degree in business to
continue her climb, and UMW’s new
health care management programs are
just what the doctor ordered.
“I believe it may be difficult to advance further without
this degree under my belt,” said Reynolds, who recently was
admitted to UMW’s Master of Business Administration
(MBA) program and looks forward to completing the new
MBA concentration in health care management.
The new programs, which include a Post-Baccalaureate
Certificate in Health Care Management, will be available at
the College of Graduate and Professional Studies in Stafford
County beginning this fall. They arrive at the right time
UMW offers two new programs to
meet the needs of the community’s
burgeoning health care industry
| By Christine Neuberger
for Reynolds, and for the local health care sector, which
is poised for unprecedented expansion. Both MediCorp
Health System, parent of Mary Washington Hospital, and
HCA Virginia will open new hospitals in the area, and more
medical facilities are planned.
The health care industry already employs 10,000-plus
workers in the region – roughly 10 percent of the local
payroll, according to a Fredericksburg Regional Alliance
economic profile. But once MediCorp’s Stafford Hospital
Center and HCA’s Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center
open, health care will surpass other local industries in size by
far said Walt J. Kiwall, MediCorp’s executive vice president
and chief operating officer.
With the expansion expected to fuel demand for more
and better trained health care managers, “the need for leaders
is growing substantially,” he said. “The need to have deep
and wide business skills is greater than it has ever been. We
need people to take leadership positions who understand not
only the science of medicine but the science of management,
leadership, and business.”
In an effort to satisfy that demand, UMW designed a
program that combines a foundation of business skills with an
emphasis on health care management, particularly finance,
economics, and law associated with the U.S. health care
system, said MBA Program Director Alan G. Heffner.
The combination is appealing to Reynolds, who was
UMW has added new health care management programs to help
meet the needs of the area's growing health care industry, which,
with planned projects such as HCA Virginia's Spotsylvania Regional
Medical Center (left), soon will surpass other local businesses.
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