CDU Signs Compton Community Health Professions Partnership MOU
CDU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Compton Community Health Professions Partnership (CCHPP), joining forces with Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson, Compton College, Compton Unified School District, Kedren Health, St. Johns Community Health, and California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). The event was held on the CSUDH campus.
In order to address the disparities in healthcare access and improve educational attainment for greater Compton area residents, the CCHPP will create a seamless pipeline for health professional education and training to forge areas of job growth in the greater Compton community.
This pipeline will begin in middle and high school for students in the CUSD, leading into health professional degree programs at Compton College, CSUDH, and CDU.
“These are the organizations that are making a difference in our community. This is where the future of health and healthcare is going to start for the communities of South Los Angeles, Compton, and all the communities around them, ” said Dr. David M. Carlisle, CDU President and CEO. “There is no other collaboration like this in the entire country. This is a lesson that every other state can take advantage of and learn from.”
In its first year, the partners engaged in the CCHPP will participate in extensive public listening forums to hear firsthand from people who are experiencing barriers to entering healthcare professions, among other problems.
As part of the ensuing phase of student recruitment, high-schoolers will engage with CCHPP partners to tap into postsecondary training related to these professions.
CCHPP will reach undergraduate students at CDU, Compton College, and CSUDH, and its focus areas — including offering additional scholarships — will expand as the partners seek further external funding.
“We are witnessing a new day in Compton with this agreement,” said Assemblymember Gipson. “While the effects of past underinvestment have institutionalized patterns of neglect, preventing the Compton area from closing persistent gaps in healthcare, today’s announcement will help us focus our medical and educational providers around a common purpose for the good of the region.”
The CCHPP was envisioned to address the needs of marginalized and disenfranchised communities in a Medically Underserved Area relying too much on a system that does not adequately care for them.