This grant provided funding to Pfeiffer University to help establish a new Physician Assistant (PA) program. The PA program was housed with Pfeiffer’s planned Master’s in Occupational Therapy (OT) program in downtown Albemarle, NC, where Pfeiffer also planned to operate a health clinic that would provide free PA and OT services to area residents. Graduates of the PA program were expected to help mitigate shortages in primary care providers in rural areas of the region and state. In addition, the City of Albemarle anticipated a boost to its economic development plans from an increase in the number of students, faculty, and other healthcare professionals that lived and worked in the city. Golden LEAF helped pay for library resources, faculty training, conferences and licensure, classroom and office furnishings, a back-up generator, and technology, including simulation equipment.
