FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Contact: Jack Hershey or Tom Walsh
COLUMBUS, OH – Ohio’s community colleges and hospitals are collaborating to address the ongoing health care staffing shortage and the need to promote career pathways.
The Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC) and the Ohio Hospital Association are hosting the 2019 Workforce Summit on Oct. 16 at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center. Speakers and participants will explore workforce needs in health care, discuss new opportunities for community college and hospital partnerships, and determine how to develop a qualified and more innovative workforce and serve communities better.
“We face a wide gap between the number of college-educated adults in today’s workforce and the number that businesses need to continue to grow, so we’ve been partnering with state business associations such as the Ohio Hospital Association to help solve their workforce shortages,” said Jack Hershey, president and CEO of the OACC. “Careers in healthcare are among Ohio’s most in-demand jobs and our community colleges have long played a key role in helping students develop the skills they need at an affordable cost.”
More than 100 are expected to attend, including chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chief nursing officers, community college leaders, college health care officials and human resource professionals.
Speakers and topics at the summit include:
- Lt. Governor Jon Husted, who will discuss the state’s workforce development priorities and strategies.
- Kyle Hartung, Senior Director at Jobs for the Future in Boston, who will talk about the critical need to align education and career development and workforce and demographic trends in health care.
- An innovative program developed by Washington State Community College and Memorial Health Systems in Marietta that has led to employment in in-demand occupations by connecting students to the hospital.
- A panel discussion of hospital and community college partners, who will provide an overview of the challenges health care faces, from an employment perspective. In addition to sharing the challenges, the panel will discuss how they continue to work together to meet ever-changing needs of the workforce while continuing to ensure the workforce is able to meet the needs of patients. The workforce skills needed include basic skills as well as soft skills will also be featured.
- A discussion of how Ohio post-acute care providers, including nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities, have utilized newly-funded registered apprenticeship programs for their STNAs and how these programs are having a renaissance in the health care sector.
The day will conclude with group discussions which will provide an opportunity for hospital and college personnel to engage, collaborate and explore strategies to develop successful partnerships and action items.