AHEC West

AHEC West Our mission is to improve access to and promote quality in healthcare through education and collaboration.

Established in 1976, AHEC West is one of three Area Health Education Centers in Maryland, and 225-plus nationwide. A 501 c (3) non-profit, we work to reduce health disparities through a number of programs and initiatives, including:

The Clinical Education program, which hosts local rotations for upper-class University of Maryland health professions students to expose them to life in Western Maryland and encourage them to practice here. The Exploring Careers in Health Occupations (ECHO) program, which promotes health-career occupations to high school students in a bid to “grow our own” health professionals

The Health Insurance Program at AHEC West, whose staff of Navigators help area residents obtain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. AHEC Scholars, a two-year program designed to increase health profession students’ knowledge and experience with rural and/or underserved urban populations

Healthy Together, the HERC grant, focuses on heart disease and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in the Far West of Maryland. Supported by the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission. The views presented here are those of the grantee organization and not necessarily those of the Commission, its Executive Director, or its staff. True You Maryland, a collaboration with Healthy Teen Network, aims to prevent teen pregnancy in rural communities and bringing inclusive and comprehensive sex education to these areas. Additionally, AHEC West provides oral and behavioral health services through Community Health Workers (CHWs), trains CHWs and addresses unmet healthcare needs through collaborations and other cooperative efforts.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘️🌈For anyone who hasn't already celebrated, be safe and make healthy decisions!
03/17/2026

Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘️🌈

For anyone who hasn't already celebrated, be safe and make healthy decisions!

03/17/2026

The H.E.A.L. Mobile will be at the Possibility Shop on March 30th at 12 PM.

The H.E.A.L. Mobile, an Allegany County Health Department - Cumberland Maryland original, brings much needed medical resources to the Allegany County area.

"Services offered through the H.E.A.L. Mobile include telehealth, WIC, reproductive and maternal health services, immunizations, dental services, care coordination, Medicaid/MCHP enrollment, and referrals for substance use disorder treatment."

03/16/2026

Please share! The STEPS Scholarship application form closes in ONE MONTH!🎓💵
3 $1,000 scholarships will be awarded.
For more details, please check out the flyer below!
The application link can be found here: https://www.formpl.us/form/6699725161037824

03/16/2026

There’s still time to get a 2026 health plan through ! Check the box on your Maryland tax return and explore low-cost or free plans with essential benefits like doctor visits, prescriptions, and mental health services. Enroll now at MarylandHealthConnection.gov.

03/16/2026

Every THIRD Monday we offer free, confidential STI testing at our Westernport location.

03/16/2026
03/16/2026

can be fatal.

Do you know its symptoms?
🔴 Rash that starts on the face and spreads over the body
🔴 Fever
🔴 Cough
🔴 Red and watery eyes
🔴 Small white spots inside the cheeks

Seek health care if you suspect you or your child has measles.

Join us on April 20!
03/13/2026

Join us on April 20!

03/13/2026

Now that you've got a health plan, the next step is finding a doctor you trust. Head to MarylandHealthConnection.gov/find-a-doctor to search for in-network providers and keep your costs predictable.

Address

39 Baltimore Street
Cumberland, MD
21502

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

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Our Story

Maryland Area Health Education Center West, also known as "AHEC West," is a rural, community-based organization serving Appalachian counties in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. To fulfill our mission to improve access to and promote quality in health care through education and collaboration, we partner with local, state, federal, and private organizations working toward mutual goals of a fair national distribution of health professionals and the elimination of health disparities due to rurality, poverty, race, and culture.

Programs 1. Clinical Education provides clinical rotations for health professions students to experience health care in a rural setting and to encourage them to practice in an under-served area. 2. Continuing Education Courses and Training Programs provide health professionals in the AHEC West service area with vital licensing and other educational opportunities. 3. Exploring Careers in Health Occupations (ECHO) is an AHEC West summer residential program designed to recruit tomorrow's health professionals today, and in an era of health professional shortages, to “grow our own.” ECHO provides high school students with educational support and job training skills to nurture an interest in health careers. 4. Mountain Health Alliance (MHA) is a Network of public health care agencies, hospitals, and community organizations that works to broaden access to health care, especially for low income and/or uninsured, under-served adults. MHA serves a three state, five county region that includes Allegany, Garrett, and western Washington County, Maryland; Bedford County, Pennsylvania; and Mineral County, West Virginia. 5. NAO HPV Prevention Project: Beginning her fourth year in a national effort to raise HPV immunization rates through provider education, Joy Taylor of AHEC West is one of four Project Specialists overseeing the nationwide campaign being coordinated by the National AHEC Organization (NAO). 6. Geriatrics and Gerontology Education and Research Program (GGEAR) is a collaboration with the University of Maryland, Baltimore on continuing education for health professionals and caregivers providing services to older adults and interdisciplinary geriatric team training (GAIT) for University of Maryland System health professions students.

7. Geriatric Assessment Interdisciplinary Team (GAIT) is an inter-professional geriatrics training program for University System of Maryland students. 8. Stretching To EmPower (STEP): The STEP program is one of 16 community initiatives nationwide approved in July, 2017 by the federal Office on Women's Health (OWH) to reduce opioid misuse among women. Offered at three public housing sites in Allegany County, Md., STEP educates, motivates and strengthens women, arming them intellectually, psychologically and physically against the risks and ravages of opioid misuse. 9. Health Right: Formerly an independent non-profit and now a program of AHEC West, Health Right provides emergency dental care to low-income, under-insured residents of Western Maryland and the surrounding region.