Healthcare Workforce Committee

Committee Chairpersons—Jeanette Klemczak, Consultant, and Luanne Bibee, Business Development Manager, Lansing Community College

The Healthcare Workforce Committee (HWC) provides an avenue for communication and collaboration among healthcare organizations, employers, educators and training providers to capture the most useful, effective and innovative workforce development tools to support high quality healthcare in the Tri-County area.
 
The HWC is currently working on workforce synergy opportunities across employers, as well as focusing on regional employer demand, workforce supply, retention strategies, education and training, and healthcare delivery and population trends.

Current active members of the committee include: Capital Area Career Center – Ingham ISD, Capital Area Michigan Works, Career Quest Learning Center, Clinton County RESA, Community Mental Health Authority, Eaton Intermediate School District, Eaton RESA, Hayes Green Beach Memorial Hospital, Ingham County Health Department, Klemczak Healthcare Workforce Consulting, Lansing Community College, Lansing Latino Health Alliance, McLaren Greater Lansing, Michigan Health Council, Michigan Orthopedic Center, MSU College of Human Medicine, NexCare Health Systems, Sienna Facilities, Sparrow Health System, Trilogy Health Services

Strategic Priority Focus

Goal:  Assure a continuous healthcare workforce supply to meet the needs of the Capital Area region employers and residents.
Activities:
  • Evaluate workforce areas of high need.
  • Review key regional, state and national data on workforce segment in demand.
  • Identify components and regional strategies in workforce development.
  • Select solutions with greatest potential to impact the selected workforce area of demand.

Capital Area MA Apprenticeship Program - 2018

Through the Capital Area Health Alliance Healthcare Workforce Committee, healthcare employers in the region meet to identify the human resources needs they have in common and explore strategies to address those needs. In 2016, in response to the high need for Medical Assistants (MA), the Committee began to explore an apprenticeship model, to strengthen MA retention and reduce the high costs of MA turnover. Area employers with interest in apprenticeship began meeting with the Lansing Community College Business Community Institute and Department of Health and Human Services, to collaboratively develop the first Capital Area MA Apprenticeship program. On January 9, 2018, the first cohort of eight apprentices began the 46 week program, which includes 36 weeks of classroom instruction and ten weeks of on the job learning. The employers provide the apprentices with payment for training costs, wages during training and full time employment on completion. The participating healthcare employers are Sparrow Health Systems, McLaren Greater Lansing, and Capital Internal Medicine Associates. While relatively new to healthcare, the apprenticeship model is suited to many of the professions in the system, and is being actively encouraged by the US Department of Labor and the State of Michigan, which has awarded Skilled Trades Training Funds to employers participating in apprenticeships. The first program will be a model for other healthcare apprenticeship opportunities in the region.

Lansing Health Care Systems Create Talent Through Apprenticeship
miapprenticeship.org, April 2018

Apprenticeships Can Help Alleviate Shortages of Medical Assistants in Health Care Industry
Crainsdetroit.com, March 13, 2018 

Upcoming Meetings

The HWC is hosted by Lansing Community College Health and Human Services Division under Dean Margie Clark and the Business and Community Institute under Dean Bo Garcia. Meetings are held monthly. Additional employer participation is welcome. If you are interested in becoming involved with the HWC and attending a meeting, please contact the Alliance at connect@cahealthalliance.org. 
 

Meeting Minutes

2016 Accomplishments

The Committee gathered information to better understand the needs of the region and identify potential opportunities, through presentations on health workforce diversity, regional workforce data and the US Department of Labor Apprenticeship Program. With regional data identifying a high need for Medical Assistants and Certified Nurse Assistants, the Committee decided to explore developing a community Medical Assistant apprenticeship, using the experiences of such a program in Grand Rapids as a potential model. The HWC continues its focus on regional employer demand, workforce supply, retention strategies, education and training, and healthcare delivery and population trends, with a specific focus on nursing.


Employer Healthcare Summit

"Are Healthcare Employers Leaving Money on the Table?"
June 22, 2016 | Lansing Community College

The HWC hosted an Employer Summit on June 22 entitled "Are Employers Leaving Money on the Table?" The purpose of the event was to present information to healthcare employers regarding the apprenticeship model of training and potential resources for the training. 

Russell W. Davis, Michigan State Director, US Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship, spoke on the Case for Apprenticeship. The apprenticeship model offers solutions to challenges confronting employers: difficulty finding skilled workers, high rates of employer turnover, and attracting new and diverse talent. Mr. Davis described the five necessary components of an apprenticeship program:
  • Employer Participation in developing and implementing the apprenticeship program is the foundation of any apprenticeship.
  • On the Job Training provided by an experienced trainer and mentor, using a training plan guided by the required skills and competencies for the occupations.
  • Related Technical and Academic Instruction provided by an accredited education program.
  • Apprentices earn wages from the beginning of the program and Rewards for Skill Gains through incremental increases as skill increases.
  • Every graduate of a registered apprenticeship receives a Nationally Recognized Occupational Credential.

Teri Sand, Business Services Team Leader of the Capital Area Michigan Works! (CAMW), spoke about the Michigan Skilled Trades Training Fund, which was launched in 2013 to assist employers in finding talent with the skills they need. CAMW has worked with dozens of employers in the Capital Area to bring skilled trades training funds into the community, and it will be available to advise the Healthcare Workforce Committee and employers interested in participating in the apprenticeship initiatives.

Julie Parks, Executive Director of the Tassell MTEC and Workforce Training, Grand Rapids Community College, and Linda Witte, Program Developer/Manager, Grand Rapids Community College, shared practical information about the development and implementation of the West Michigan Apprenticeship Programs for Medical Assistants. This is a collaboration among West Michigan Works!, the US Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship, three community colleges, and three West Michigan healthcare employers that led to the launch of a community apprenticeship program in January 2016. The West Michigan experience can be instructive as the Health Care Workforce Committee works with interested organizations to develop an apprenticeship program for Medical Assistants in the Capital Area.

The event concluded with a discussion on opportunities to integrate desired skills and apprenticeship models into career and technical education models.  A follow up/planning meeting is scheduled for August 31 for organizations who are interested in further exploring a local partnership for an apprenticeship program in the region.