Associate Professor
Biography, Disciplines and Teaching Interests
Dr. Samuel Opoku is an Associate Professor in Health Policy and Management, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University.
He is a health services researcher with interests in access to, cost of and utilization of health care services among people with Non-Communicable Disease (NCD). His graduate instruction was in public health with an emphasis in health services research, administration, and policy. He has expertise in research methodology, survey development, and analysis and has completed and analyzed several survey-based studies. He has also worked on multiple funded research, including a large multicenter grant funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Through his involvement in these projects either as PI, Co-I or key personnel, he has expanded his skills and knowledge in teamwork, data collection, and analytical strategies as well as in the reporting and submission of research information. Some of the NCDs he has focused on include cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Disciplines: Health Policy and Management
Teaching Interests: Healthcare management, health economics and health leadership
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About Samuel T. Opoku
Biography, Disciplines and Teaching Interests
Dr. Samuel Opoku is an Associate Professor in Health Policy and Management, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University.
He is a health services researcher with interests in access to, cost of and utilization of health care services among people with Non-Communicable Disease (NCD). His graduate instruction was in public health with an emphasis in health services research, administration, and policy. He has expertise in research methodology, survey development, and analysis and has completed and analyzed several survey-based studies. He has also worked on multiple funded research, including a large multicenter grant funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Through his involvement in these projects either as PI, Co-I or key personnel, he has expanded his skills and knowledge in teamwork, data collection, and analytical strategies as well as in the reporting and submission of research information. Some of the NCDs he has focused on include cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Disciplines: Health Policy and Management
Teaching Interests: Healthcare management, health economics and health leadership
| Present | Faculty Member, Georgia Southern University ‐ Department of Health Policy & Community Health | |
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Disciplines
Research Interests
Grants
| 2019 - 2024 | Flex Financial and Operational Improvement Grant |
| Georgia Department of Community Health, State Office of Rural Health | |
| Role: Co-I | |
| $750,000 | |
| 2020 - 2022 | Examining the Role of State-MCO Contractual Mandates/Incentives and a Social Services Referral Program in Addressing Social Determinants of Health |
| Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | |
| Role: Co-PI | |
| $248,000 | |
| 2019 - 2021 | Rural Hospital Leadership Training |
| Georgia Hospital Association Research and Education Foundation | |
| Role: Co-PI | |
| $316,000 | |
| 2019 - 2020 | Critical Access Hospital Community of Practice for Financial Sustainability |
| Georgia Department of Community Health | |
| Role: Co-PI | |
| $50,000 | |
| 2018 - 2019 | Clinch Memorial Hospital: Community Health Needs Assessment |
| Clinch Memorial Hospital | |
| Role: Co-I | |
| $12,500 | |
| 2018 - 2019 | Critical Access Hospital Financial Sustainability |
| Georgia Department of Community Health | |
| Role: Co-PI | |
| $30,000 | |
| 2018 - 2019 | Effingham Health System: Community Health Needs Assessment |
| Effingham Health System | |
| Role: Co-PI | |
| $20,000 | |
| 2018 - 2019 | Evans Memorial Hospital: Community Health Needs Assessment |
| Evans Memorial Hospital | |
| Role: Co-PI | |
| $15,000 | |
| 2018 - 2019 | Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan |
| Ware County Board of. Health of Georgia | |
| Role: PI | |
| $18,473 | |
| 2018 | Bacon County Hospital & Health Care System: Strategic Planning |
| Bacon County Hospital & Health Care System | |
| Role: Co-I | |
| $9,884 | |
| 2018 | Warm Springs Medical Center: Community Health Needs Assessment |
| Warm Springs Medical Center | |
| Role: PI | |
| $10,000 | |
| 2016 - 2018 | Flex Financial and Operational Improvement Grant |
| Georgia Department of Community Health, State Office of Rural Health | |
| Role: Co-I | |
| $510,000 | |
| 2017 | Coastal Health District: Accreditation Technical Assistance for the Coastal Health District |
| Glynn County Board of Health/ Coastal Health District. Role | |
| Role: Co-PI | |
| $26,030 | |
| 2015 - 2016 | Georgia Rural Health Systems Planning Grant |
| Georgia Department of Community Health, State Office of Rural Health | |
| Role: Co-I | |
| $200,000 | |
| 2014 - 2015 | Assessing the Average Length of Hospital Stay and Health Care Cost in Nebraska. Does Geographic Location Matter? |
| Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NEDHHS) | |
| Role: PI | |
| $12,600 | |
| 2013 - 2014 | Comparative Assessment of Nebraska’s J1 visa waiver and State Repayment Loan Repayment Program |
| Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NEDHHS) | |
| Role: PI | |
| $5,000 |
Professional Service and Affiliations
| 2018 - Present | Chair, Curriculum Committee, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, GS | 2018 - Present | Chair, HPM Concentration Exam Committee, GS | 2017 - Present | Member, Conversation with Professors, GS | 2017 - Present | Member, MPH Admissions Review Committee, GS | 2016 - Present | Member, Comprehensive Examination Grader, GS | 2016 - Present | Member, Research Computing Advisory Council, GS | 2015 - Present | Member, MPH Program Assessment, GS | 2015 - Present | Member, University Conduct Board, GS | 2018 - 2019 | Member, General Education and Core Curriculum Committee, GS | 2018 - 2019 | Chair, HP&CH Inter Campus Relations Committee, GS | 2017 - 2019 | Member, Faculty Welfare Committee, GS | 2017 - 2019 | Member, University Senate, GS | 2017 - 2018 | Member, Academic Standards Committee, GS | 2016 - 2017 | Member, Graduate Student Council, GS | 2016 - 2017 | Member, MHA CAHME Accreditation Committee, GS | 2015 - 2017 | Chair, Diversity Committee, GS | 2015 - 2017 | Member, MHA Awards Committee, GS | 2014 - 2017 | Member, MHA Admissions Review Committee, GS | 2014 - 2017 | Member, MHA Advisory Board, GS | 2015 | Reviewer, Student Travel Grant Committee, JPHCOPH, GS |
Honors and Awards
- Recipient, Carruth J. Wagner, M.D. Public Health Scholar, The College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center (2014)
- NIH Early Career Reviewer (2016)
- Awardee, Navigate Your Way To A K Award” (2016)
- Recipient,Governor’s Teaching Fellows Program, Institute for Higher Education, University of Georgia, Nominated by Georgia Southern University President, Dr. Jaimie Hebert (2018)
- Recipient, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Health Disparities Research Loan Repayment Program (2022-2024)
Courses
- HSPM 7433 — US Health Systems
- PUBH 8134 — Health Economics, Policy and Political
- PHLD 9131 — Leadership Foundations and Strategies for Health Organizations
- HSPM 9433 — Rural Populations, Systems, Policy
| 2015 | Ph.D. in Health Services Research Administration and Policy, University of Nebraska Medical Center | |
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| 2009 | Bachelors in Medicine and Surgery, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology | |
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| 2006 | B.S. in Human Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology | |
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Contact Information
PO Box 8015
Statesboro, GA 30460
Phone: (912) 478-6985
Office: Hendricks Hall, Room 2013
Email:
