Belleville Memorial Hospital issued the following announcement on Apr 19.
Recognizing the need to provide convenient healthcare training opportunities to its employees, Memorial partnered with Midwest Career Source Vocational School (MCS) and St. Clair County’s Intergovernmental Grants Department (IGD) to create a unique opportunity to “grow” its direct patient care team and help reduce turnover in entry level roles.
“Our intent is to offer this class to our internal employees looking for career progression,” said Terri Halloran, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at Memorial. “The ability to have the class onsite was a plus due to transportation concerns of employees in getting to an off-site class location or clinical rotation.”
After discussing this concept with others and learning from the experiences of colleagues across BJC where similar programs are in place, Halloran said Memorial decided to partner with MCS because they offered more personalized training and onsite class schedule. In addition, St. Clair County’s IGD administers the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act services, and through this program, provides the funding necessary to complete the CNA (PCT) portion of the program.
“IGD has enjoyed a long-term relationship with Midwest Career Source and is pleased to be able to share in the support of BJC’s worker training efforts,” said Rick Stubblefield, executive director of St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants and Economic Development Departments. “Right now, it is very difficult for employers to attract new workers so the concept of advancing the skills of existing employees and moving them to more complex better paying positions with opportunity for promotion makes perfect sense.”
MCS was established in 2012 by the Reset to Success Foundation and is approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and Illinois Department of Public Health. The Reset to Success Foundation is a 501©3 established in 2006 with the vision of providing educational programs/job readiness training, life development skills, career mentoring, tutoring, case management and job placement services.
The program is targeted at employees working in other hospital departments who have a passion for a role in direct patient care. Currently, MCS offers a patient care technician (PCT) program at Memorial, however, there is a desire to expand program offerings in the future to include other roles in direct patient care.
The eight-week program is a blend of theory, classroom learning and clinical hours. Upon successful completion of the program, students can take the state examination. Participants who complete the program are registered through the Department of Labor (DOL) as a registered apprentice. The related training for CNA/PCT Apprentice is performed by MCS with Memorial providing the on-the-job training.
Sulbrena Day, RN, MSN, PhD, program administrator for Midwest Career Source said this program utilizes a best practice consultative case management approach focused on one-year of monitoring performance for each student completing the program.
“Through this model, MCS works in collaboration with Memorial Hospital leadership to enhance job performance and work ethic,” Day added. “MCS works closely with the apprentice to help employees navigate challenges and barriers that could impact employment thereby reducing turnover and improving retention.”
Memorial’s goal was to implement this training opportunity as a pilot for other healthcare career needs, Halloran explained. If there are not enough internal candidates to fill the class, we take referrals from our employees or from a list of applicants who have applied to work at BJC but needed additional training for the role.
“MCS has exceeded our expectations in providing a quality product to our employees,” Halloran added. “They have been an excellent partner in soliciting feedback as well as providing feedback on how to be successful with each individual hire. Sulbrena has developed relationships with our talent advisor for hiring, the hiring managers and internal clinical resources to support the students throughout the program and beyond – having these key connections is a plus.”
Geneva Fox's Story
Geneva Fox says she has always wanted to work in the medical field. A mother of two young boys, she worried about cutting hours to go back to school.
“Growing up I wanted to be a nurse, but the older I got the more I realized how many more roles and options there were,” said Fox, who worked as a supply distribution tech at Memorial Shiloh for a year before transferring to the PCT program, a collaborative offering through Memorial, BJC, Midwest Career Source and St. Clair County Department Intergovernmental Grants Department. She is now a PCT on a medical/surgical unit at Memorial in Shiloh.
Fox calls this program “unbelievably life changing.”
“This program allowed me to further my education without having to worry about finances.”
Although undecided on what role she wants to pursue, her goals are to further her education in the medical field. This offers the chance to get experience on a medical/surgical unit while exploring future career interests.
“I am thinking about a medical/surgical nurse, respiratory therapist or wound nurse,” she said. “All of those roles interest me.”
“This program is an amazing opportunity and provides a change to open doors.”
Original source can be found here.
Source: Belleville Memorial Hospital
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