Florida AHEC’s are a major component of the state’s safety net healthcare system in partnership with other major federal and state initiatives for medically underserved communities. There are five AHEC Program Offices hosted by medical schools at Florida State University, Nova Southeastern University, University of Florida, University of Miami, and University of South Florida. Affiliated with these AHEC Programs are 10 regional community-based AHEC Centers that focus on rural, underserved, minority, and immigrant communities with severe unmet healthcare needs.
Florida AHECs support the state’s indigent safety net healthcare system by responding to access to care issues, health workforce recruitment and retention, promoting the quality of healthcare, and strengthening the public health infrastructure in high impact medically needy communities.
With funding from the Comprehensive Statewide Tobacco Education and Use Prevention Program, the AHEC Tobacco Training and Cessation Program began in 2007. It provides tobacco cessation and prevention training to current and future healthcare professionals, and cessation programs for all users in every county of the state.