James says for patients who must learn to navigate life from a wheelchair, the costs to prepare a home can be unaffordable, particularly for those who are already facing poverty.

“It is heart-wrenching to know that patients and their families are faced with paying for needs like wheelchair ramps all on their own – and insurance doesn’t cover it,” she said.

This gap in need and ability to pay led James to start a non-profit organization in 2020 called Pushing Forward Inc. The organization helps provide wheelchair ramps for those with spinal cord injuries due to violence or motor vehicle accidents. To date, Pushing Forward Inc. has received a few grants, and nearly a dozen individuals and their families have received financial assistance for ramps, along with other needs like transfer shower benches, toilet risers and safe driving equipment.

James was pursuing a Master of Science in Health Administration degree when she began the journey to start a non-profit. She credits SPHIS faculty and students for supporting her, and explains how information she learned in class was extremely timely.

“Things like gaining an understanding of how policies affect patients, how to start a business plan and aspects of marketing – I learned the information one day and applied the knowledge the next day,” she said.

Now James is working to grow her base of support and funders to assist more low-income patients. She hopes to eventually address other issues like housing.

“Already there is not enough housing in Louisville,” she said. “Many of those coming out of the hospital with these debilitating injuries are young adults and there aren’t many places they can go.”

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The University of Louisville’s executive online will prepare health organization executives to broaden their management competencies and pursue career advancement.

“This is the ideal time to pursue the online MSHA at UofL. We created this program to provide health care leaders with a high quality learning experience. We focus on the most critical competencies necessary for effective organizational leadership and population health management,” said Lee Bewley, PhD, FACHE, associate professor and director of health management programs in the Department of Health Management and Systems Sciences, UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences (SPHIS).

This executive online MSHA is designed for healthcare professionals with at least five years of experience and admits both administrative and clinical leaders including physicians, dentists, nurses and allied health providers. This option is an online track of the school’s in-person MSHA, which is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management ����ֱ��.

“We are thrilled to offer this new degree at SPHIS,” said SPHIS Dean Craig Blakely, PhD, MPH. “This online degree is one of many ways we offer top-tier education beyond the physical campus to meet the demand of modern learning.”

The two-year degree prepares students for higher-level leadership and responsibilities such as overseeing and managing services, programs, staff, budgets, facilities and systems. Taught by leaders in healthcare innovation, the executive MSHA courses will guide students through:

• Exploring broad principles and important influencers within top health care organizations
• Examining data-driven methods of strategic leadership and effective management of health care organizations
• Analyzing external policy and health care environments that affect management

Graduates will be prepared to pursue board certification through the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), meeting the education requirements to take the exam and equipping them with the knowledge needed to complete it successfully.

Graduates also can pursue MGMA, AAMA and/or HFMA certification.

For more information, call 800-871-8635, email online@louisville.edu or visit the . See all of UofL’s online programs at: .��

“Our school is committed to offering relevant academic programs to better the health of all people, and this new degree will help grow and keep talented leaders in the health services sector,” said Craig Blakely, PhD, MPH, dean, School of Public Health and Information Sciences. “This program also builds perfectly on the recently funded National Science Foundation Center for Health Organization Transformation — many students in the MSHA program will also be engaged in real-time research occurring with local health delivery system partners who may eventually become their employers.”

The Department of Health Management and Systems Sciences designed the MSHA to deepen knowledge of environments, processes, structures and strategies in health care. Students will learn about broad principles and key influences of leading health care organizations. They’ll also examine evidence-based frameworks for strategic leadership and effective management of health care organizations. An analysis of policies that influence population and community health care management also will be part of the curriculum.

“We are continually working to make the University of Louisville a nationally recognized destination for health management and health policy education and research,” said Chris E. Johnson, PhD, chair, Department of Health Management and System Sciences. “Our dedication to population health management, evidenced-based decision making, and disseminating real-time solutions for our health care industry partners makes UofL a great place to study our health care system.”

The MSHA program uses UofL’s , a modified version of the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) . Students can expect to complete the 56-credit-hour program in two years. The MSHA is accepting applications for its evening program, with classes beginning at 4 p.m. Once the evening track is underway, the school plans to develop an executive MSHA track to accommodate seasoned health care leaders.

The MSHA is in candidacy status with the (CAHME), the accrediting body for graduate programs in health management in the United States. The school’s initial accreditation site visit for CAHME is this fall.