Starting next month, students in Lorain County will have an opportunity to earn a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) credential in high school, while opening a wide variety of postsecondary pathways for certificates and degrees in health care careers. The first cohort of the OTC+ North Ridgeville Healthcare Collaborative will be seated mid-January.
Through classroom instruction, clinical training and hands-on patient care experiences, the program is designed to help students build the skills and confidence to step directly into the health care workforce or continue into nursing and allied health technical education programs.
The program was only possible through a unique collaboration among the Lorain County Joint Vocational School (LCJVS), North Ridgeville City Schools, Lorain County Community College (LCCC) and O’Neill Healthcare in North Ridgeville, and it is funded through the State of Ohio’s OTC+ program, which is designed to provide access to quality career-technical education to build Ohio’s workforce.
“The OTC+ program is a new model created by the state to expand career-tech programs that are at full capacity,” explains Mario Codispoti, strategy officer and director of marketing and communications at LCJVS. “Programs like health care, engineering and advanced manufacturing are typically at full capacity, so every student does not have the opportunity to access these program. OTC+ allows us to fund programs offsite so students can have access to get into those career pathways.”
“O’Neill Healthcare really stepped up to the challenge when it comes to providing a clinical setting,” adds Codispoti. “Students often have an idea about the profession, but they don’t typically think about the work environment — in this case the clinical setting.”
O’Neill Healthcare’s participation is opportune not only because of its location in North Ridgeville, but also for the quality of care that it delivers there. O’Neill Healthcare North Ridgeville is recognized as one of the premier healthcare facilities in Lorain County and regularly ranks in the top 10% of nursing homes in the State of Ohio for resident satisfaction.
“We started working on it last year,” says Lee Armbruster, coordinator of community partnerships and educational opportunities for North Ridgeville Schools. “We have had a lot of meetings and there have been a lot of people involved from all of our organizations.”
As far as students, educators and the county are concerned, this is not a one and done program.
“Students not only earn their CNA certification but also complete their first college credit through our Bridges to Success program,” says Cindy Kushner, director of School and Community Partnerships at LCCC. “We want them to explore the many health care career pathways available to them and build a personalized career plan that supports long-term success and growth.”
With the start of the program, Lorain County has also taken an important first step toward improving the quality of its health care workforce.
“With the connection to LCCC’s Bridges to Success, we are creating a sustainable workforce pipeline,” says Codispoti. “We want to see this kind of continuity, a continuum of education, upscaling and stackable credentials.”
