Trinity Woods CEO Steve Dickie, left, and four students from the first high school CNA training partnership: Lourdes Villeda-Mendoza, Alondra Rodriguez, America Argote-Arellano and Diana Martines. (Image courtesy of Trinity Woods)
A Tulsa, OK, life plan / continuing care retirement community has found an innovative way to create an employment pipeline for its community while also helping at-risk high school students find healthcare careers.
Trinity Woods is working with two area high schools to offer training, paid internships and mentors for students interested in healthcare careers.
Trinity Woods Vice President of Health Services Jacob Will told McKnight’s Senior Living that initial discussions with Nathan Hale High School, which has a graduation rate of less than 30%, centered on a dining program and helping students interested in entrepreneurial restaurant work. Those discussions broadened into creating a program to help students “get their foot in the door” in the healthcare field.
The program, launched in early 2020, began with certified nursing assistant classes. Six students in the initial group completed the 75 hours of coursework to become CNAs, followed by a 12-week paid internship that saw them working 20 hours per week at the community.
The pandemic paused the program until this fall, when it was opened up to another local high school. Student interest exploded, Will said. The current class also has six students who are taking their CNA courses onsite through the Health and Safety Education Consultants & Training Center, an independent healthcare education company that operates out of space on the Trinity Woods campus. .
During the internship, each student is paired with an experienced CNA mentor to shadow. Will said the mentorship has turned into a rewarding experience for both students and mentors, especially during the pandemic.
All six students in the initial class accepted employment at Trinity Woods, and two still are employed by the community. The program’s graduates have an average employment length of 15 months, Will said. The current class includes six students, two from Nathan Hale and four from Union High School in Tulsa.
Due to the increasing popularity of the program, Will said, Trinity Woods plans to implement an interview process to be more selective with admissions. Trinity Woods expects the program to become permanent, he added, and the community is looking for a more stable funding source.
The program costs about $3,200 per student, which includes the CNA courses, uniform fees and wages. The first two classes were funded primarily through philanthropy via the Trinity Woods board. The next class, slated to begin in January, will be partially funded by a grant from a local philanthropist, along with matching donations from other local individuals and groups.
In the meantime, Will said he met with another local provider to share the CCRC’s success story, and he encouraged the community to replicate it within its own organization.
“The benefits are, there are more kids wanting to get into this field and profession,” he said. “I think we were just really surprised at how excited some of the youth were to get involved with this.”
“I want other organizations to see how much benefit this program can be for the community members and students,” Will said, adding that the program’s goal is to offer every student a position upon completion.
