Medical assistants, nurses, health care managers, case workers, technicians and therapists of all kinds – the list of open health care positions that need to be filled in Washington state over the next decade is long and varied. The question communities across the state are facing is how to train and upskill a workforce that was already short-handed before the pandemic.
Jefferson County on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula is no stranger to health care worker shortages. After weathering the worst of the pandemic, leaders at Jefferson Healthcare, which serves 29,000 residents across the region, knew they needed innovative solutions to skill up a local workforce where almost 70% of students weren’t pursuing or completing credentials after high school, and more than a quarter of young people are not employed or enrolled in education or training. Yet survey research indicated that a quarter of high school students are interested in health care careers.
Jefferson Healthcare senior leadership saw an opportunity in that data and, in 2022, began rallying with partners – including Peninsula College; Career Connect Washington (CCW); Olympic Ambulance; and East Jefferson, Brinnon and Quilcene Fire and Rescue – to build a plan for coursework and hands-on learning that would open pathways for local young people to explore and pursue health care careers in their community.
The program unfurls
In 2023, Jefferson Healthcare was awarded a CCW Explore Grant to support collaboration between industry, school districts and community colleges in recruiting health care workers. Among other activities, the grant funded a one-day, hands-on introduction for eighth-grade students to everyday health care — giving them opportunities to take blood pressure and tour an ambulance.
“We’re impacting access to health care in our community, in addition to engaging the youth in our community,” says Caitlin Harrison, Jefferson Healthcare’s workforce development manager.
The program continues to grow with additional grant funding to build student learning experiences. Students at Chimacum and Port Townsend high schools can now take health care-focused science courses with Jefferson Healthcare’s in-classroom clinical educator support. High school students can complete CPR/first aid certifications, tour health care worksites and shadow health care professionals. Peninsula College will also host Jefferson County high school students in their simulation lab, which allows nursing students to practice their skills on patient medical simulators that look like mannequins and can be programmed to mimic human responses like sweating and pupil dilation.
Harrison says that industry’s role is critical for success and sustainability of workforce development programs like the one Jefferson Healthcare has undertaken. Student input plays a significant role, too.
Port Townsend High School student Ashton Meyer-Bibbins started with a job shadow, then served as a student grant adviser. Jefferson’s high school programs excite students about working because of the on-site, hands-on experience, notes Meyer-Bibbins.
“It was very impactful and meaningful,” Meyer-Bibbins says of his internship. “I know it helped me focus on my next steps.” By the internship’s end, Meyer-Bibbins had presented at a hospital board meeting and a national rural education conference. He’s co-authored six grants to fund career development programs for rural students. He now attends the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, majoring in business administration.
Industry-driven learning
Jefferson Healthcare’s initiative is one example of employers finding new ways to grow a future workforce through career exploration and hands-on learning opportunities. Boeing plays a similar role in developing and supporting advanced manufacturing programs at high schools and community colleges.
One example – Boeing partners with 50+ high schools and skills centers across the state to support Core Plus Aerospace, a two-year advanced manufacturing curriculum that prepares students for direct entry into careers, apprenticeships, aligned college programs or the military. More than 3,000 high school students are enrolled in Core Plus Aerospace coursework this year, gaining advanced manufacturing industry skills (like power tools, robotics and material science) along with networking, business and internship opportunities.
Core Plus Aerospace graduates are in high demand. Boeing has hired more than 1,000 graduates since 2015. Once employed, Boeing will also pay for continued schooling and training.
Like Boeing, Jefferson Healthcare sees the creation of career exploration and hands-on learning programs as just the beginning of a new way for Washington students to explore, prepare for and launch careers.
“Career development opportunities are rare for students in rural areas across the country,” Harrison says. “It’s our hope that this work can serve as a model for other communities.”
Partnership for Learning, the education foundation of the Washington Roundtable, brings together business leaders and education partners to improve our state’s education system, so Washington students are ready to pursue the career pathways of their choice. Learn more at credentialessential.com.
