10/14/2026
🎉 Celebrating 25 Years of Impact! 🎉
This week, we had the incredible opportunity to celebrate 25 years of CNYAHEC at the beautiful Everson Museum Of Art! We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate this milestone and reflect on the partnerships, people, and programs that have shaped our organization over the past quarter-century.
For 25 years, CNYAHEC has been dedicated to advancing health equity and strengthening the healthcare workforce in rural and underserved communities. Throughout our 14-county region, we are proud to have:
🏥 Introduced over 22,000 students to healthcare careers
🎓 Placed over 800 students in internships and clinical rotations
📚 Provided over 3,000 healthcare professionals with continuing education opportunities
These numbers represent more than milestones. They reflect thousands of lives touched, careers inspired, and communities strengthened through collaboration.
🌟 Celebrating Our Partners and Community
A highlight of the evening was hearing from the incredible board members, community partners, and students who have helped bring our mission to life. A special thank you to our speakers:
Allison Duggan MD, MBA, FACS, CHCQM
Bridget Forshee, MS
Tricia Peter Clark, MBA, FACMPE, FACHE
Jacqueline McGinley McGinley, PhD, LMSW, FAAIDD
Grace Gugerty
Dr. Tom Wolff
We were also honored to welcome NYS Senator Rachel May, Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter, and Daniel Schrank, MPH from the NYS Department of Health. Thank you for joining us in recognizing the importance of building a strong and accessible healthcare workforce.
We were especially proud to present two awards celebrating individuals who exemplify our mission:
🎓 L. Thomas Wolff Scholarship: Kathryn Alliger, DNP student at Binghamton University
🏆 CNYAHEC Healthcare Workforce Champion Award: Harry Whitney Whitney, Fourth-Year Medical Student at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM)
💙 The Team Behind the Mission
None of this work would be possible without the dedication of our CNYAHEC staff. Thank you for your passion, creativity, and commitment to making a difference every day!
Richard Merchant, Christina DeLorenzo, Annabelle Fears, Mary Cupelo, Anna Read, Ashley Davis, Orion Roeder, Camryn LeRoux, Sophia Pluff
🤝 Thank You to Our Sponsors!
We are incredibly grateful to the organizations whose generosity helped make this celebration possible: Wegmans Food Markets, Pure Drive, Community Bank, Beginnings Credit Union, Syracuse Crunch
As we celebrate 25 years of impact, we are also looking ahead to the next 25. To everyone who has been part of CNYAHEC's journey, whether as a student, educator, healthcare professional, board member, community partner, or supporter: thank you for helping us build a healthier Central New York!
