Health Care Workforce Initiative Offers Hope to the Unemployed
Health Care Workforce Initiative Offers Hope to the Unemployed
By Monique Smith
Unemployment rates in Chicago are staggering and in some communities, the rates of unemployment are as high as 31% according to the 2010 US Census report which is done every 10 years. The census also showed that Chicago has the highest rates of racial disparities in employment among major metro areas. The availability of jobs is not the only contributing factor to the high numbers of unemployment, but job readiness and lack of training are other issues for many searching for employment.
In a unique effort to address the city’s economic disparities and skilled workforce shortage, the Advocate Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of Advocate Health Care, with the support of a $3 million grant from JP Morgan Chase has developed the Healthcare Workforce Collaborative. This skills-based training initiative is designed to connect underemployed and unemployed residents with high-quality jobs.
The program will be implemented at Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest, Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago. This training program has different medical curriculum tracks that will happen in five phases over the next five years.
The first phase began in January of this year at Advocate Trinity Hospital located at 2320 E. 93rd Street and recently graduated its first class. LaSonna Reeves cared for her sick grandmother as a child and later became her home health aide, but when her grandmother passed away, she became unemployed.
“I was looking for a program to get some training in but they were all too expensive and then somebody at Phalanx told me about this program,” said Reeves. Advocate led the charge to establish strategic community partnerships with City Colleges of Chicago, Phalanx Family Services, Instituto Del Progreso Latino and the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership so that the program initiative would have a broad and diverse reach.
“I’ve always had an interest in the medical field because of the time I spent caring for my grandmother,” Reeves said. The training track Reeves took part in was for Certified Nursing Assistants, Home Health Aides, Patient Care Technicians, Food Services, EVS/Transport and Clinical Technicians. Upon completion of her training and licensing, Reeves was hired by Advocate Hospitals as a Certified Nursing Assistant.
Phase II of the program starts in July; the training focus will be for Phlebotomist Technicians, Telemetry Tech, Logistics Techs and Certified Medical Assistants. After completion of a training program and licensing exams, participants will be guaranteed an interview with advocate and job placement assistance for careers with one of the region’s health care providers for positions including basic nursing assistant, radiology technician, pharmacy technician, respiratory therapy technician and health IT manager.
According to the Chicago Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Chicagoland health care industry is projected to have a 15% increase (28,000 in total) in available jobs by 2022. Right now, the industry is facing a shortage of skilled talent to meet its increasing employment needs. The program will train 1,000 people over the next five years.
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