OPEN OPPORTUNITIES. Paula Gibson, director of the Healthcare Workforce Training Institute, at an event launching the training initiative. (Submitted photo)

A foundation affiliated with a Chippewa Valley-based healthcare provider is taking a unique approach to filling the acute need for healthcare workers in Wisconsin.

The Dove Healthcare Community Foundation recently created the Healthcare Workforce Training Institute, which will provide specialized training for healthcare workers at sites in Bloomer, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Osseo, and Rice Lake.

“One of the benefits of that is the classroom, the lab, and the clinic are all in one building, so the students really get to know that building,” said Paula Gibson, the institute’s director. These facilities are offered as an in-kind donation by Dove Healthcare, which operates nursing, rehabilitation, and assisted-living centers across west-central Wisconsin. Two Dove facilities also serve as testing sites for state certification.

But the institute’s training isn’t available only to Dove Healthcare employees, Gibson said: In fact, classes are open to the public as well as to employees of other healthcare providers. (The institute is a separate entity from the Dove Healthcare Community Foundation, which in turn is a nonprofit group affiliated with Dove Healthcare.)

The creation of the institute comes at an opportune time. A tight labor market and the increased medical needs of an aging population have contributed to a challenge in filling healthcare jobs. According to the aptly named Long-Term Care Workforce Crisis 2021 Report, which was created by a coalition of Wisconsin provider groups, 40% of long-term care providers say they have staff vacancy rates above 30%. Statewide, there are an estimated 23,165 vacant caregiver positions, an increase from 16,500 in 2018. As a result of the staff shortage, 43% of Wisconsin’s long-term care providers say they are limiting admissions. At the same time, the so-called “Silver Tsunami” of an aging population continues to build: The share of Wisconsinites who are age 85 and older is expected to more than double in the next two decades.

“The aging population is growing at a rapid pace, and at the same time, the providers we depend on for care are experiencing caregiver vacancy rates like never before,” said Bert Richard, a member of the Dove Healthcare Community Foundation board. “The Dove Healthcare Community Foundation is very concerned about this, and so we are honored to be part of a solution that will surely help to alleviate this challenge.”

The Healthcare Workforce Training Institute is approved to teach the nurses’ aid training program, community-based residential facility assisted living classes, and medication aide classes, which will allow qualifying personnel to distribute medication, freeing up other healthcare workers for more direct kinds of care. The institute also offers classes that may be of interest to a wider audience, such as basic life support for healthcare professionals, first aid and CPR/AED for the community, and the Virtual Dementia Tour (which simulates what it’s like to live with dementia).

Gibson said the program is on target to graduate almost 400 students this year (the first two-week class alone had 46 students, most of who signed up to state certification test afterward). Those who complete the program can become certified nursing assistants in a few short weeks and begin providing direct patient care. “We employ a talented, experienced team of nurse educators, and we are actively seeking additional instructors so that we can expand class offerings,” Gibson said.

While the program charges tuition, many providers pay that cost for their own employees. In addition, the institute is seeking grants to help offset the cost for other students, Gibson said.

Gibson hopes the Healthcare Workforce Training Institute can help support current healthcare workers amid the challenges they face.

“I also see these amazing people in the healthcare profession, and whether it’s COVID or whatever it might be, who are burning out,” she said. “How can we help them stay passionate and compassionate, and want to stay within the healthcare profession, because they’re amazing individuals who put forth years of effort.”

Despite the pressures, Gibson said the healthcare field is also rewarding. She recalled recent conversations she had with students enrolled in the program. “A lot of them got into healthcare because it paid well, and after taking the class, (they said), ‘But it’s the people that I really like,’ ” she said.

To learn more about the Healthcare Workforce Training Institute and its upcoming classes, visit healthcareworkforcetraining.com or call (715) 726-3849. The public is also invited to attend an open house on Thursday, July 14, from 3-5pm at the Healthcare Workforce Training Institute, 2829 County Highway I, Suite 3F, Chippewa Falls.