Health Careers Collaborative Honored by Department of Labor
Darla Olson, TriHealth Director of Human Resources for Physician Practices
Dr. Jill Biden and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis kicked off a three-day “Community College to Career” bus tour on February 22, 2012 at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College to highlight the unique role community colleges play in developing a flexible, highly-skilled 21st-century workforce to meet emerging regional business needs.
There is a need to train the 'next generation of nurses.' The average age of a registered nurse has been rising and more nurses are in their 50s right now than any other age group. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing found that nursing schools turned away more than 67,000 qualified applicants in 2010 due to insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, and budget constraints.
"TriHealth is committed to training the next generation of nurses to provide quality, safe, patient-centered care," said Darla Olson, Director of Human Resources for TriHealth Physician Partners. "The Health Careers Collaborative affords TriHealth the opportunity to make a difference for our team members and the community as we train the healthcare workers we need in greater Cincinnati."
Secretary Hilda Solis speaks at Cincinnati State
Nine years ago, in response to the urgent nursing shortage, Cincinnati State began a health careers collaborative with TriHealth and other area hospitals. The goal was to train up local workers for entry-level health care jobs like patient care assistants and medical coders—and help incumbent workers who wanted to continue their education and perhaps work in nursing or other high-demand health professions.
The Cincinnati State Health Careers Collaborative is a national model that recently shared in a $19.7 million Department of Labor grant to replicate its winning model nationally. This project was named by the U.S. Government Accountability Office as one of 14 best national collaborations between workforce boards and employers.
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