AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND ST. DAVID’S HEALTHCARE PARTNERSHIP RECEIVE $2-MILLION FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
AUSTIN, Texas – September 27, 2004 – Austin Community College (ACC) and the St. David’s HealthCare Partnership (SDHP) recently announced the receipt of a $2-million grant from the United States Department of Labor (DOL). The grant is a recent effort of the Bush Administration’s High Growth Job Training Initiative, and will fund a specialty nurse fellowship program, kicking off in Austin this week.
“In the healthcare industry, a number of experienced nurses are retiring,” said Jon Foster, CEO of the St. David’s HealthCare Partnership. “Consequently, we are relying more and more on recent nursing graduates who are entering the workplace. These graduates are facing a wave of new technology, increasing customer expectations and a host of other workplace challenges. With the fellowship program, we are addressing this ever-changing workforce demand and patient need in the industry.”
The nurse fellowship was created by SDHP to give beginning nurses the opportunity to participate in a year of advanced training. Similar to a medical residency, the hands-on course will expedite the transition from novice to expert in specialty areas such as intensive care units, emergency departments and surgical services. This unique program is being implemented by only a handful of facilities across the country.
Upon completion of the program, nurses with roughly one year in the field will acquire the experience of a nurse with three or more years of experience. The program includes didactic training, as well as online courses administered by ACC. Participants will take field trips to facilities across the state to experience best practices in their particular area of specialty.
“ACC and the St. David’s Healthcare Partnership have a long-standing cooperative relationship in producing and developing healthcare professionals for the Austin area,” said Dr. Robert Aguero, ACC President. “Helping to increase he number of specialty nurses, is just one way ACC is working to offset the impact of the critical nursing shortage in Central Texas.”
ACC will work with St. David’s to develop and provide the training for these specialty nurses. The nurses will benefit from resources that ACC brings to the project, including an established distance learning technology and new state-of-the-art nursing labs at its Eastview Campus.
SDHP and ACC have worked together to hire program staff for the project who are now housed at ACC (the Program Director, Clinical Instruction Coordinator, and the Administrative Assistant). This staff will work to finalize the program curriculum, and deliver the various educational activities needed to accelerate the education process for these nurses.
The (DOL) grant provides funding for two years, allowing 70 nurses to participate over a two year period. With the recent program launch, the first participants were selected after a rigorous screening process by an advisory board and program administrator.
“We are proud of this program which will benefit so many,” Foster said. “To nurses, this program translates to valuable experiential training. To St. David’s, this is an opportunity for a more highly skilled workforce, as well as an excellent recruiting tool. Most importantly, this means better patient care to the community.”
“The health care industry is predicted to grow at a rate of 28 percent between 2002 and 2012, adding 3.5 million new jobs,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco of the High Growth Job Training Initiative. “The programs supported by these grants will serve as models for the public workforce system to equip workers with skills needed to hold good jobs at good pay and continue providing Americans with quality health care.”
About the High Growth Job Training Initiative
The High Growth Job Training Initiative is a strategic effort to better prepare workers to take advantage of new job opportunities in high growth sectors of the American economy. Through executive forums with leaders of expanding industries, critical workforce gaps and issues are identified. Solutions, like today’s grants, are then created in cooperation with employers, educational institutions and the public workforce system. Health care is the first in a series of industry rollouts planned under the High Growth Job Training Initiative.
About Austin Community College
Austin Community College offers affordable, quality education and training to the Central Texas region, and is ranked as the top transfer institution in the area. Founded in 1973 as a single campus, Austin Community College has grown into a diverse, six-campus open-door institution that serves more than 30,000 students a semester. ACC offers associate degrees and certificates in more than 140 areas, and plays a vital role in training the local workforce. Healthcare and social services professionals such as police officers, fire fighters and nurses receive state-of-the-art training at the college---visit www.austincc.edu.
About the St. David’s HealthCare Partnership
The St. David's HealthCare Partnership (SDHP) is the fifth-largest private employer in the Austin area, with over 5,000 employees and $1.5 billion in annual gross revenues. In 2003, the SDHP provided more than $115 million in free care to people who could not otherwise afford to pay. For more information about the St. David’s HealthCare Partnership or the Partnership’s four comprehensive acute-care hospitals—North Austin Medical Center, Round Rock Medical Center, South Austin Hospital and St. David’s Medical Center—visit www.stdavids.com.
Posted: 09/27/2004 11:15 am
AUSTIN, Texas – September 27, 2004 – Austin Community College (ACC) and the St. David’s HealthCare Partnership (SDHP) recently announced the receipt of a $2-million grant from the United States Department of Labor (DOL). The grant is a recent effort of the Bush Administration’s High Growth Job Training Initiative, and will fund a specialty nurse fellowship program, kicking off in Austin this week.
“In the healthcare industry, a number of experienced nurses are retiring,” said Jon Foster, CEO of the St. David’s HealthCare Partnership. “Consequently, we are relying more and more on recent nursing graduates who are entering the workplace. These graduates are facing a wave of new technology, increasing customer expectations and a host of other workplace challenges. With the fellowship program, we are addressing this ever-changing workforce demand and patient need in the industry.”
The nurse fellowship was created by SDHP to give beginning nurses the opportunity to participate in a year of advanced training. Similar to a medical residency, the hands-on course will expedite the transition from novice to expert in specialty areas such as intensive care units, emergency departments and surgical services. This unique program is being implemented by only a handful of facilities across the country.
Upon completion of the program, nurses with roughly one year in the field will acquire the experience of a nurse with three or more years of experience. The program includes didactic training, as well as online courses administered by ACC. Participants will take field trips to facilities across the state to experience best practices in their particular area of specialty.
“ACC and the St. David’s Healthcare Partnership have a long-standing cooperative relationship in producing and developing healthcare professionals for the Austin area,” said Dr. Robert Aguero, ACC President. “Helping to increase he number of specialty nurses, is just one way ACC is working to offset the impact of the critical nursing shortage in Central Texas.”
ACC will work with St. David’s to develop and provide the training for these specialty nurses. The nurses will benefit from resources that ACC brings to the project, including an established distance learning technology and new state-of-the-art nursing labs at its Eastview Campus.
SDHP and ACC have worked together to hire program staff for the project who are now housed at ACC (the Program Director, Clinical Instruction Coordinator, and the Administrative Assistant). This staff will work to finalize the program curriculum, and deliver the various educational activities needed to accelerate the education process for these nurses.
The (DOL) grant provides funding for two years, allowing 70 nurses to participate over a two year period. With the recent program launch, the first participants were selected after a rigorous screening process by an advisory board and program administrator.
“We are proud of this program which will benefit so many,” Foster said. “To nurses, this program translates to valuable experiential training. To St. David’s, this is an opportunity for a more highly skilled workforce, as well as an excellent recruiting tool. Most importantly, this means better patient care to the community.”
“The health care industry is predicted to grow at a rate of 28 percent between 2002 and 2012, adding 3.5 million new jobs,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco of the High Growth Job Training Initiative. “The programs supported by these grants will serve as models for the public workforce system to equip workers with skills needed to hold good jobs at good pay and continue providing Americans with quality health care.”
About the High Growth Job Training Initiative
The High Growth Job Training Initiative is a strategic effort to better prepare workers to take advantage of new job opportunities in high growth sectors of the American economy. Through executive forums with leaders of expanding industries, critical workforce gaps and issues are identified. Solutions, like today’s grants, are then created in cooperation with employers, educational institutions and the public workforce system. Health care is the first in a series of industry rollouts planned under the High Growth Job Training Initiative.
About Austin Community College
Austin Community College offers affordable, quality education and training to the Central Texas region, and is ranked as the top transfer institution in the area. Founded in 1973 as a single campus, Austin Community College has grown into a diverse, six-campus open-door institution that serves more than 30,000 students a semester. ACC offers associate degrees and certificates in more than 140 areas, and plays a vital role in training the local workforce. Healthcare and social services professionals such as police officers, fire fighters and nurses receive state-of-the-art training at the college---visit www.austincc.edu.
About the St. David’s HealthCare Partnership
The St. David's HealthCare Partnership (SDHP) is the fifth-largest private employer in the Austin area, with over 5,000 employees and $1.5 billion in annual gross revenues. In 2003, the SDHP provided more than $115 million in free care to people who could not otherwise afford to pay. For more information about the St. David’s HealthCare Partnership or the Partnership’s four comprehensive acute-care hospitals—North Austin Medical Center, Round Rock Medical Center, South Austin Hospital and St. David’s Medical Center—visit www.stdavids.com.
Posted: 09/27/2004 11:15 am