The Area Health Education Center (AHEC) for Western Washington and Whatcom Community College are on the land of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the Lummi, Nooksack, Semiahmoo, and Samish.  This land was stolen through broken treaties.  We honor the peoples who cared for the land, water, air, and more since time immemorial and we recognize our responsibility in giving back and beginning to repair and rebuild relationships in our work. This is one small statement, but we hope our collective impact will be greater.

In spring 2017, Whatcom Community College (WCC) was named the site of the Area Health Education Center for Western Washington (AHECWW). With dual funding from the University of Washington (UW) and the Washington state Department of Health (DOH), AHECWW works to:

1. Increase diversity and distribution among health professionals,
2. Enhance health care quality,
3. Improve health care delivery to rural and underserved areas and populations.

Aligning our work with WWAMI, the Department of Health Rural Care Office, the National AHEC Organization and the National Rural Health Association, AHECWW is working to improve core public health for rural and underserved urban communities. 

The federal AHEC program was developed by Congress in 1971 to recruit, train and retain a health professions workforce committed to underserved populations. Learn more about the first 50 years of AHEC in this National AHEC Organization video.

The Washington AHEC Program Office is hosted by the UWSOM. The Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho Washington AHEC Program Office of the UW School of Medicine (UWSOM) has collaborated closely since the mid-1980s with AHEC Centers in the region and is currently affiliated with Program Offices in Idaho,  Alaska,  Montana, and Oregon.  There are four centers in Washington state:

1.  The Area Health Education Center for Western Washington (WCC)
2.  The Southwest Washington Area Health Education Center (Washington Association for Community Health)
3. The Central Washington Area Health Education Center (Wenatchee Valley College)
4. The Eastern Washington Area Health Education Center (Eastern Washington University)

We stand in solidarity with Black lives, Black minds, Black futures, and the Black Lives Matter movement.  We stand with our brothers, sisters, friends, and neighbors who endure relentless assault.  We are committed to cultural humility, anti-racist education, and WCC's campus-wide culturally inclusive excellence.

We share our pronouns to strengthen our human connection, to show respect to aspects of identity, and as an invitation for community.  We understand the fluidity of identity and expression; therefore, we share pronouns in all introductions to create a supportive environment for learning and leading.