Geriatric Education Center

The Western Reserve Geriatric Education Center (WRGEC)

The Western Reserve Geriatric Education Center (WRGEC) is headquartered at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine in the Center for Health Care Research and Policy, CWRU MetroHealth Medical Center Campus. In addition to the CWRU School of Medicine, the WRGEC consortium includes the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM), Bowling Green State University (BGSU), Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine (OUCOM), and Miami University (MU) and affiliated institutions and clinical sites serving urban and rural areas of Ohio.

Dr. Julia Hannum Rose, PhD, is Principal Investigator/Director, Dr. Elizabeth O'Toole, MD, is Co-Director and Eileen Yates, MPA, is Associate Director of the WRGEC. In the WRGEC's current BHPr-funded grant cycle (2000-2005), education and dissemination programs are tied to four organizing themes: 1) optimizing physical and mental health from prevention to palliation; 2) building safe and supportive communities; 3) respecting and valuing diversity; and 4) encouraging students into health careers and geriatrics. On an annual basis, the WRGEC offers over 100 education and training programs, reaching between two thousand and three thousand trainees, including physicians, nurses, social workers, allied health professionals, and paraprofessionals throughout Ohio.