Diversifying Your Workforce: Are You Meeting the Mark? Discussed at CWA - Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership January Meeting

What does it mean to have a diversified workforce in healthcare today? Is your organization meeting the mark? With increasing emphasis being placed on meeting the healthcare demands of the area’s rapidly diversifying population, healthcare providers are under greater pressure to both increase the cultural competency of current medical professionals and expand the diversity of the workforce entering the job market. Studies have shown language and other cultural factors remain significant barriers to accessing healthcare and can significantly impact the quality and delivery of care. The challenge of closing those gaps through a diversified workforce is the focus of the next meeting of the Competitive Workforce Alliance Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership. Join us for the extraordinary opportunity to hear a distinguished panel of the area’s leading executives in healthcare and education address how their institutions are developing solutions to this complex workforce challenge. Read More

Full Circle: Three Years of Accomplishment

Since its inception in 2008, the Competitive Workforce Alliance Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership has grown from a collection of curious individuals to a strong collaboration of employers, educators, entrepreneurs, workforce and economic development professionals who together have created innovative models for addressing allied health workforce needs and shortages. Funded by the Department of Commerce, the Partnership was given three years to create itself and develop working models to increase the number of qualified workers in high-demand allied health positions. This grant expires December 31, and what began as an experiment has come full circle to create three successful workforce development models and tobegin creating another model of cooperation, communication and collaboration. To see the details of the accomplishments of this extraordinary Partnership click here for Full Circle: Three Years of Accomplishment: a PowerPoint presentation (in PDF) of the accomplishments. Read More

A New Career Pathway, a New Career:
Anesthesia Technician Certification Program is Underway

The pilot program designed to create new career opportunities for anesthesia technicians is underway! The first class started in October through a partnership between Carolinas College of Health Sciences (CCHS) and North Seattle Community College in Washington, and offers a certificate program that allows current employees to increase their skills and wages. There are no existing programs in North or South Carolina but the demand for this relatively new allied health position is increasing. “This is a unique program,” said CCHS President and project leader Ellen Sheppard. “It is also very timely. We are developing this as the Anesthesia Technician Professional Society is preparing to increase the standards for those in the field, and this program will allow existing employees to be prepared for that change.” Twenty-six (26) students are using an on- line curriculum developed by Carolinas College of Health Sciences with funding from the Competitive Workforce Alliance Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership. Read More

Spring 2011 Allied Health Job Vacancy Tracking Report

The Division on Workforce Development, on behalf of the Commission on Workforce Development, has supported several studies on NC job vacancies in the allied health industry.  By partnering with the Council on Allied Health and the Sheps Center, a nationally recognized methodology for tracking and analyzing this information has been developed. Read More

Placing a Priority on Expanding North Carolina's Allied Health Workforce

Developing public policies that will expand North Carolina's allied health workforce is a key focus of the Institute of Emerging Issues (IEI). Housed at North Carolina State University, IEI, is a public policy organization that focuses on improving the state's economic and social structure and the organization has identified improving the state healthcare workforce as a priority. "This is one of the fastest growing job markets in North Carolina," Health policy expert Sarah Langer said, "yet current efforts to meet the growing workforce demand are fragmented. Part of our goal is to connect people and organizations so they can develop collaborations to address their needs."     Read More

Watch Our Allied Health Career Panel Discussion on Diversity
( January 2012)
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Click here for biographies of our panelists (PDF)

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