The Ohio State Primary Care Research Institute has as its mission to foster, facilitate and report collaborative, interdisciplinary research directed toward optimizing people's health. Its vision is to be recognized internationally as a center of excellence for the quality, quantity, and impact of its research on the professional literature, development of public policy, and health outcomes.
Administratively, the Ohio State Primary Care Research Institute functions within the Ohio State College of Medicine. The Director is a faculty member of the College, appointed by the Dean. A collaborative memorandum of understanding guides the Institute assuring joint decision-making, shared faculty, and common administration and evaluation processes. Faculty and staff members are appointed from family medicine, general internal medicine, and ambulatory pediatrics; from selected other University departments; from the Columbus Neighborhood Health Centers; and from other community venues. An Oversight Committee functions to develop policies, and procedures.
Annual summaries and comparisons of research-related accomplishments indicate an upward trend across years indicative of increasing productivity and research capacity. Funding to establish the Primary Care Research Institute was obtained beginning September 2000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Health Professions. Subsequently a competitive continuation grant award was received beginning September 2003. Currently, self-maintenance funding is derived from various sources to assure institutionalization and responsiveness of the Primary Care Research Institute to the University’s Academic Plan.