The Arkansas Rural Health Partnership (ARHP) of Lake Village has named Scott Kuttenkuler as the first president of the Arkansas Rural Health Academy.
ARHP launched the Academy in January as a workforce training initiative focused on rural health care.
The program trains its students directly within rural healthcare settings, and so far, 21 have completed the program and been placed into local health care roles. ARHP expects to train and place over 300 health care professionals within the next year, according to a press release announcing Kuttenkuler’s hiring.
Kuttenkuler previously served as vice chancellor of the Saline County career technical campus at Arkansas State University Three Rivers in Malvern. He helped expand enrollment and secure workforce grants at the university. He has held leadership roles at Southeast Arkansas College in Pine Bluff and the University of Arkansas at Monticello and is currently completing a doctorate in higher education administration at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
Since 2008, ARHP has received over $79 million in grant funding, including $8 million from federal agencies such as Health Resources and Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Delta Regional Authority. The funding has supported scholarships, mobile training units and other rural health workforce initiatives.
The Academy is part of ARHP’s broader efforts to address workforce shortages and improve healthcare access in rural Arkansas.
“We will focus our energies on the workforce training gaps that exist and contribute to challenges faced by rural healthcare providers,” Kuttenkuler said. “We will listen to their needs, collaboratively dream big, and leverage available resources to make meaningful change throughout the state.”
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