Meritus Health hosts inaugural Case Competition

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Last week, Meritus Health hosted its first annual Case Competition for master’s in health administration/public health students from across the country.   

Maulik Joshi, Dr.P.H., president and CEO of the Meritus Health notes that “these students will be the leaders of tomorrow. Giving them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge using real-world data and interacting with senior leaders just makes them stronger and the future brighter.” On an annual basis, Meritus hosts almost 1,000 students through rotations.

How was the competition set up?

In total, six teams from universities across the country (from Alabama to West Virginia) attended the two-day event, hosted on the Meritus campus. This year’s winning team was from the University of Kentucky.

Each team was provided the same assignment: To respond to a case from Meritus Health senior leadership by giving two or three innovative strategies and actions to improve rural health outcomes in Washington County, Md., and counties in neighboring Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The solutions they suggested ranged from improving mental health to increasing healthcare access for historically disadvantaged populations.

The teams were given 20 minutes each for their presentation and 15 minutes for questions and answers with the senior leaders, who judged the competition. The criteria ranged from content to team dynamics.

During their time in Hagerstown, the students also learned more about Meritus Health by rounding in the hospital and spending time with senior leaders.

How does Meritus support graduate student education?

The competition is another way Meritus continues to focus on supporting graduate student education. The health system has an administrative fellowship program for those with master’s degrees in business administration, healthcare administration, public health, nursing administration or an equivalent degree program.

The fellowship provides significant engagement with the Meritus Health senior leadership team and is an immersive, hands-on fellowship with tremendous opportunity for learning and professional development in addition to leadership of and participation in systemwide initiatives and projects.

To learn more about the administrative fellowship program, visit www.meritushealth.com/careers/non-medical-team-members/administrative-fellowship-program.