Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC) was recently awarded a $305,000 grant from the Kentucky Healthcare Workforce Collaborative, led by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. The grant, along with other funding, positions the college to make healthcare training more accessible.
Working with dozens of healthcare employers that provide clinical training sites, ECTC’s Innovation in Healthcare initiative addresses unfunded needs to increase the number of skilled healthcare professionals in communities across the region.
“Dozens of healthcare organizations, including hospitals, nursing homes, rehab facilities and health departments, have already stepped up to provide the clinical training sites. And now the college is able to expand classes and purchase additional equipment,” said ECTC President Dr. Juston Pate. “We’re truly working hand-in-hand with employers, and together we’re building a stronger healthcare workforce.”
To further increase registered nursing graduates, ECTC will launch a summer cohort, accepting 10 students in Summer 2023 and 20 students starting in Summer 2024. The program currently accepts 40 new students each fall and spring. Students are selected after completing prerequisite classes, and once accepted to the program, they complete an associate degree in registered nursing in four semesters. Moving to the year-round model will allow ECTC to increase the annual capacity of the nursing program from 80 to 100.
The Innovation in Healthcare initiative also includes the development of evening and weekend classes. Nursing classes will be available in the evenings and nurse aid classes will be available in the evening and on weekends.
“This is great news for those who want to pursue the high-demand career field but cannot manage a traditional class schedule,” said Anna Hamilton, ECTC Division Chair for Biological and Health Sciences. “We know there are people in our community dreaming of new careers in healthcare, but concerns about childcare, work and other commitments hold them back. Expanding the class schedule is going to help prospective students of all ages.”
Grant funding will also support a new surgical technology lab. With lab funding in place, ECTC is pursuing accreditation for a new surgical technology program. Surgical technologists are among the greatest workforce needs cited by healthcare employers.
Additional elements of Innovation in Healthcare include:
- A healthcare-equipped distance learning classroom to allow students, particularly dual credit students in rural areas, to complete prerequisite classes and enter the healthcare workforce pipeline earlier. Funding from other grants will be used to purchase technology and implement synchronous online and hybrid healthcare classes.
- A new nurse aide training classroom will allow ECTC to provide training for up to 75 additional students per year. Nurse aid training also is a prerequisite of ECTC’s nursing and sonography programs and is available to high school students earning dual credit.
- The college will hire a healthcare program recruiter and retention specialist to work one-on-one with prospective students and provide tutoring and other support services to existing students.
- A nursing simulation lab will be replaced.
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