Mosaic Life Care is donating $1.5 million to create a position to teach population health at Missouri Western State University.
The donations will be distributed over a five year span of $300,000 each year and is part of the university’s Centennial Capital Campaign.
“As one of the first successful Accountable Care Organizations in the country, Mosaic Life Care is on the forefront of developing and implementing population-health programs and initiatives that are truly innovative,” said Mark Laney, MD, president and CEO of Mosaic Life Care. “Population health and accountable care is where the industry is heading for the future and to address increasing needs, we need tomorrow’s population-health experts.”
The Mosaic Life Care Professorship for Population Health is the first endowed professorship at Western.
“We are extremely grateful for Mosaic Life Care’s generous gift, which will enable us to recruit and retain a highly qualified faculty member in this growing field,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “In turn, we envision tremendous strides in population health outcomes for our region and beyond. I believe this gift has the potential to produce truly pioneering work and be a ‘game-changer’ for Missouri Western.”
According to a new release from Mosaic, the population-health initiatives and programs by this delivery model improves health and wellness of individuals and communities, while controlling health-care costs, delivering high quality care and creating an exceptional patient experience.
“The vision and mission of Mosaic Life Care is illustrated by our long commitment to being one of the leading health-care organizations in terms of providing community benefit to our region,” said Laney. “By this investment, Mosaic Life Care not only supports a valued community partner (MWSU), but adds to our long list of investments in northwest Missouri.”
Missouri Western’s proposal to create a Bachelor of Science in Population Health Management will be considered by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education in early 2015. Coursework would include biology, sociology, psychology, medical terminology, epidemiology, health-care policy, ethics, analytics, communication and business. If approved, it will be the first undergraduate degree program in population health in Missouri.