VCU news

By Michael Ford
University News Services

Dolores G. Clement, Dr. P.H., M.S., M.A., professor of health administration and associate dean of the VCU School of Allied Health Professions, has received the 2003 "Distinguished Alumni Award" from Rush University, in Chicago.

Presented at an April gala event honoring the first three classes in health systems management at Rush University, the award is recognition of Clement's outstanding achievement in the areas of scholarship, community service, career advancement and continuing involvement in the Rush HSM program.

"I am so pleased for Dr. Clement - she certainly is deserving of such a prestigious award," said Cecil B. Drain, Ph.D., C.R.N.A., professor and dean of the VCU School of Allied Health Professions. "This award for Dr. Clement reflects great honor on herself, the School of Allied Health Professions and Virginia Commonwealth University."

Clement was recruited to VCU in 1988 to the Department of Health Administration and assisted in the development of the Master of Public Health program due to her background in public health. She also has joint appointments in the School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health.

Appointed associate dean in 1998, Clement worked with the dean and SAHP chairs to design and initiate VCU's Ph.D. program in health related sciences, an innovative distance learning program that draws participating faculty from across the university. She has been director since the program's inception in 1998 and continues to teach and direct dissertation research.

Clement's own research includes areas of community health and well-being and Medicare risk contracting with HMOs for the elderly in the areas of quality, access and beneficiary satisfaction. She has investigated patterns of diffusion, growth and survival of health maintenance organizations and the use of alternative payment strategies by various providers. Her background includes employment in various health care organizations in the U.S., and extensive international health care experience in West Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Clement earned her bachelor's degree from the College of Mount Saint Joseph, in Cincinnati, in 1970. She earned a Master of Arts degree in international affairs from Ohio University, in 1979 and began her professional career in health services administration by earning a Master of Science degree in health systems management from Rush University in 1981. Clement also earned a Doctor of Public Health degree in health policy and administration from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988.