WCU, Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority sign agreement for McKee Clinic funding
From left to right, Mike Parker, Tribal Council chairman; WCU Chancellor Kelli R. Brown; Carmaleta Monteith, chair of the CIHA Governing Board; and Casey Cooper, CIHA CEO and WCU Board of Trustees Member. Donated photo
Throughout Western North Carolina, there is a critical need for pediatric psychologists to conduct testing and provide other resources needed for children to be successful in and out of the classroom.
Continuing a long tradition of partnership and community between Western Carolina University and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, WCU and the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority decided to work together to meet the needs of children living in the Qualla Boundary and beyond.
On April 1, WCU Chancellor Kelli R. Brown and CIHA Governing Board chair Carmaleta Monteith signed an agreement for CIHA to establish a fund to provide program matic support for WCU’s College of Education and Allied Profession’s McKee Assessment and Psychological Services Clinic.
By adding a fixed-term psychology faculty member to WCU’s psychology program, the university will be able to increase the capacity to serve CIHA patients as well as expand training opportunities for WCU clinical psychology master’s and doctoral students.
The goal of the fund is to expand assessment and therapeutic services to patients and clients of CIHA, while also scaling services of the clinic in support of expanded training and clinical experiences for WCU master’s and doctoral students in the clinical psychology program. This goal will be achieved through the hiring of a fixed-term faculty member who is a licensed, clinical psychologist with a pediatric focus.
