This article is from the EMU News Archive. Current EMU new is available at www.emu.edu/news
EMU to Offer Heathcare Leadership Training
Allon Lefever, MBA director, reviews course requirements with Lindsey Agricola (l.) of Harrisonburg and Sarah Eppard of Elkton. Both have already applied to enter the health service administration program this fall.Photo by David Troyer
It’s a program whose time has come.
The EMU board of trustees has approved two new health care leadership programs within the master of arts in business administration (MBA) program, beginning fall, 2006.
Allon Lefever, MBA director, said the health services administration program will prepare health care managers with the requisite business and leadership skills for administering a variety of healthcare settings.
The new concentration has a wide reach in that courses will be offered online so that persons won’t have to relocate to the Harrisonburg campus, Lefever noted.
Two Tracks of Study
Students will have two study options. The first option is an MBA degree
with an emphasis in health care administration; the second is a
graduate-level certificate in health services administration consisting of
five on-line courses.
"Both study tracks will emphasize health care leadership from an Anabaptist perspective, exploring ethical issues and compassionate leadership with a practitioner focus," Lefever said.
Courses in the concentration include The Health Care Delivery System, The Application of Legal and Ethical Principles to Health Care Management, The Financing of Health Care, Managing in the Complex Health Care Environment and Managing Conflict and Human Resources in Health Care.
"Both graduate-level programs are convenient and practical, designed to serve working professionals," Lefever stated. "In the second year, students will attend the annual Mennonite Health Services Alliance convention, allowing workshop attendance, face-to-face interaction and networking with other health care professionals," he added.
"Servant-leadership values"
Lefever said the coursework will take "a case-based, integrated approach to the management and administration of health services" and "will emphasize Anabaptist servant-leadership values and how they shape the delivery of healthcare.
"Students will study under professors committed to passionate Christian faith, academic excellence and professional competence," he said.
"The addition of this concentration will broaden EMU’s attractiveness to persons employed by the top 28 healthcare organizations in the eight-county area surrounding the university and, most importantly, will enable EMU to respond to requests for this type of leadership training nationwide, Lefever said.
More information on the new program is available by contacting Allon Lefever at 540-432-4150; e-mail: .
