September 25, 2009

Faculty member honored for health care article

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- For the second time in three years, the work of a Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty member earned honors as the top article for the year from the American Healthcare Radiology Administrators (AHRA): The Association for Medical Imaging Management.

Sandra Collins, assistant professor in health care management at SIUC’s School of Allied Health in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, won the 2009 Outstanding Article Award along with co-author Denise A. Vaughn. Their winning article was “Labor Transformations and the Challenges of a Multigenerational Workforce.” The article appeared in the January/February issue of AHRA’s “Radiology Management.”

Vaughn completed her doctorate in Workforce Education and Development last year at SIUC. The Collins and Vaughn article addresses potential labor shortages within the health care industry and delves deeper into the topic by identifying the complexities associated with managing a multi-generational workforce, according to Collins.

“I am obviously very excited to receive this award for the second time,” Collins said. “The AHRA is a highly respected and prestigious group in the health care field and I am thrilled to be recognized by them not only once, but twice. I am extremely thankful to Radiology Management and that the manuscript was so well received by their subscribers.”

Collins also won the top AHRA editorial award in 2007 along with Scott S. Collins, an associate professor in SIUC’s School of Allied Health. Their article was entitled “Succession Planning and Leadership Development: Critical Business Strategies for Healthcare Organizations.”

The AHRA is a professional organization representing medical imaging management of all levels from hospitals, imaging centers, medical practices and more. The organization has more than 4,200 members worldwide and offers a variety of development programs, publications and opportunities.

Sandra Collins has numerous presentations and publications to her credit. Since 2006 she’s been assistant professor in SIUC’s Health Care Management program and she was previously a visiting instructor and adjunct instructor at SIUC, working part of that time in the College of Business. She also taught at John A. Logan College in Carterville and Rend Lake College in Ina and previously worked in the health care industry in hospital and clinic settings.

Collins is a double alumna of SIUC, earning her bachelor of science in workforce education and development in 2001 and her MBA in 2003. She is currently working on her doctorate in education, workforce education and development. Collins won the William E. Nagle Academic Excellence Award at the University in 2006 for academic excellence in her doctoral program work.