Urban Health Plan Residency Program for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Receives Accreditation

BRONX, N.Y., Feb. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Urban Health Plan's Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Physician Assistant (PA) Residency Program has received accreditation by the National Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Training Consortium (the Consortium).

The year-long program, established in 2019, provides rigorous post-graduate training to new nurse practitioner and physician assistant graduates embedded with a deep understanding of the social determinants of health and the achievement of health equity unique to the Bronx, Queens and Central Harlem communities served by Urban Health Plan. It is the first program in New York City, second in New York State and tenth nationwide to be accredited by The Consortium since its inception in 2015.

The Consortium was established as a non-profit organization to develop an accreditation service for postgraduate training programs. The accreditation process, which is voluntary, involves extensive analysis and documentation of the residency program's operations. It also involves an on-site visit for verification and inspection of the program and its facilities by professionals with nationally recognized expertise in postgraduate training for nurse practitioners.

"This accreditation is a major accomplishment that puts our program through a thorough peer review process, with objective and rigorous quality standards that is consistent with how we provide patient care," says Paloma Hernandez, President and CEO of Urban Health Plan. "I applaud the program leadership team and faculty, who work side-by-side with residents, for successfully navigating the accreditation process."

"The NP/PA residency program was designed to prepare nurse practitioners and physician assistants to provide care in a community health setting to patients with diverse clinical needs," says Jennifer Genuardi, MD,. Director of Clinical Best Practices and Clinical Education who serves as the clinical director. "This accreditation gives us a seal of approval on the quality of the postgraduate training we are providing."

About Urban Health Plan:  Urban Health Plan (UHP), a system of federally qualified community health centers based in the South Bronx, Central Harlem and Corona, Queens, has served the community since 1974. We have eleven clinical sites, a mental health facility, twelve school-based sites and six administrative and program sites.  In 2019, we served more than 90,000 patients. UHP is Joint Commission accredited. For more information, visit www.urbanhealthplan.org

About the Consortium: The National Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Training Consortium ("The Consortium") is a membership, advocacy, training and accreditation organization for postgraduate NP and NP/PA training programs. The Consortium exists to support new and ongoing postgraduate training programs for nurse practitioners and physician assistants in the achievement and maintenance of the highest standards of rigor and quality, consistent with achieving the goal of an expert healthcare workforce prepared to meet the needs of patients and the society as a whole.

SOURCE Urban Health Plan

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http://www.urbanhealthplan.org