LAYTON -- A new Master of Health Administration degree will be offered starting this fall at the Weber State University Davis campus here. The Utah Board of Regents formally approved the degree on Friday. It is the only graduate program of its kind available in the state and was created following demand from local health care providers. WSU's Dr. Ezekiel R. Dumke College of Health Professions has offered a bachelor's degree in health administration for two decades. Three years ago the college started offering a graduate certificate in health administration. "We heard from local hospital CEOs and other professionals in the health care field that there was a real need for a graduate degree in this area," said Ken Johnson, chair of the Department of Health Administration and program director for the MHA.

"This degree is tailored to meet the needs of health care supervisors and managers who are interested in pursuing executive leadership roles in hospitals and medical facilities," he said.

The degree also should appeal to students who earned a bachelor's degree or graduate certificate in health administration and would like to further their education, Johnson said.

"We've had an enthusiastic response to the news," he said, with WSU health administration alumni reportedly very excited about the new option.

WSU faculty spent two years researching similar programs at other schools as they assembled their proposal for the new degree program.

Efforts were also closely aligned with the WSU Master of Business Administration program, which is also offered at the Davis campus. Johnson said the university may offer a dual degree combining an MHA with an MBA in the near future.

Classes will be offered in the evenings at the Davis campus in Layton to accommodate students working full-time during the day. Faculty will be drawn from WSU health administration professors with extensive experience and background in the health care field plus current hospital and health care administrators.

"Health care managers working in a variety of specialized fields such as nursing, radiology, business offices and other areas will gain a greater perspective for the overall issues involved in managing health care," Johnson said.

"We also hope to attract physicians who are interested in pursuing management positions," he said.

"We're excited about it," said Bruce Davis, director of the WSU Davis campus. "This is now going to be a full-blown master's program. We're de-lighted to have that program here.

"We're scheduling classes now. It will fill up our evenings. We will use some conference rooms as classrooms," he added.







In the evenings, the campus has been full to capacity.

For more information about the MHA degree, visit the Web at www.weber.edu/MHA.