The 2017-2018 academic year marks an important milestone for the Master of Healthcare Administration program at the David Eccles School of Business. The MHA program admitted its first entering class in Fall 2007, so this year marks our 10th anniversary!

But our story began before that first official entering class. We received official Regents’ approval for the MHA degree in fall 2006. Since the MHA was to be offered as part of several dual degrees, that gave students who were already in the process of completing their MBAs the opportunity to continue on to take the additional courses required for the MHA and earn their dual MHA/MBA degrees. We admitted 4 students during Spring 2007. Among the students who took advantage of the opportunity to extend their studies to earn the new dual degree were Kevin Turner and Todd Blake. After graduation, Kevin and Todd both pursued fellowships. Kevin took a position as group practice manager with Edwards Air Force Base in California and is now Regional Director at University of Pennsylvania Lancaster General Health, and Todd completed a fellowship with Trinity Health System at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, ID and is currently Senior Administrator at Banner University Medicine in Tucson, AZ.

That first summer we also admitted eight students who were in the process of completing their MBA or PMBA degrees. Among these early students was our own Bradden Blair. After earning his MHA/MBA, Bradden completed his Ph.D. in Health Promotion and Education at the University of Utah. He joined the Eccles School in 2012 and is currently director of our Master of Science in Information Systems and Master of Science in Business Analytics programs and assistant professor/lecturer in the OIS department. Among our early graduates were Jake Budd, Jesse Dalton and Kalyani Yerra. Jake accepted a Fellowship at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and is currently Director Medical Practices with the Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital in Michigan. Jesse took a position with Banner Healthcare in Phoenix and is currently Healthcare Executive at Bandera Healthcare in Arizona, a subsidiary of the Ensign Group. Kalyani Yerra worked for Siemans and Cerner and is currently senior technical architect at Premier, Inc., a healthcare IT company in Salt Lake City.

The entering class of fall 2007 welcomed eight students, including 5 MHA/MPHs and 3 MHA/MBAs.  These two dual degrees have continued to be the most popular. Graduates of these two programs have moved rapidly in their careers, with several taking prestigious fellowships, accepting jobs with an increasingly diverse set of healthcare organizations, and moving into leadership roles with professional associations. In recent years, our graduates have taken fellowships at Geisinger in Pennsylvania, Baylor in Texas, University of California San Francisco, Seattle Children’s Hospital, City of Hope in California, Trinity in Michigan and Connecticut, Sanford in North Dakota, Multi-Care in Washington, St. Josephs in California and University of Utah Health. Employment opportunities have taken our graduates across the nation, to California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Florida and more. Our alumni are spread across the U.S., making new friends in far places.

We applied for and received accreditation of our MHA program with CAHME, the Commission on Accreditation of Health Management Education, in 2012. The program was re-accredited in 2015 and we will have our second re-accreditation visit in Spring 2018.

In Fall 2016, we began offering the MHA as a stand-alone degree and welcomed 20 students to that first class. Combined with the dual degree students, we admitted 35 students last fall and anticipate that same number for Fall 2017. The growth our program has experienced has enabled us to refine the curriculum and bring in highly respected healthcare executives to teach. This foundation in real world experience has become a hallmark of our MHA program.

We have learned from applicants that the network they join when they enroll in an MHA program is one of the key factors in their decision about which graduate program to attend. Each graduate of our MHA program is a valued member of our alumni network. We encourage you to stay connected, and to let us know about your achievements and your career advancement. Keep us in mind when colleagues seek your advice on MHA programs and when your organizations are looking for aspiring leaders.

Please stop by and visit, we would love to catch up.

Debra Scammon, Ph.D.
Director, MHA Program
Emma Eccles Jones Professor of Marketing