The 11th Street Family Health Services Center was recently recognized as a national leader in healthcare innovation by the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Center, a comprehensive, nurse-managed, trans-disciplinary health center that provides a full range of health services, health promotion and disease prevention, is run by the Col­lege of Nursing and Health Professions.

The AAN, an elected group of 1,500 of the most accomplished nurses in the United States, selected the Center as one of three national “edge runners”—programs that lead the way in innovation and provide powerful examples of nurse-led solutions to the nation’s most serious healthcare challenges. The AAN has created the “Raise the Voice” campaign to promote a national conversation about the critical leadership role nursing must play in transforming the nation’s delivery of healthcare. “Raise the Voice” has produced a video that highlights the Center and includes commentary from Dr. Patricia Geritty, associate dean for community programs and director of the Center, and Dr. Donna Shalala, Hon. ’07, the nation’s longest-serving U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services (from 1993 to 2001). The film is posted on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/AANRaisetheVoice.

The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has posted a full write-up about the Center in the Health Care Innovations Exchange section of its Web site. The Health Care Innovations Exchange is an AHRQ program designed to highlight the nation’s best programs so that others may emulate them, and allow innovators and adopters to interact. The Center is featured on the AHRQ Web site at www.innovations.ahrq.gov/index.aspx.