This March, 13 Harrisburg-area students realized their dream of serving the communities they live in while earning a rewarding career in the healthcare industry.
They graduated from UPMC’s Freedom House Foundations, a six-week training program operating out of Tec Centro Capital Region in Harrisburg. The program is for aspiring healthcare workers in underserved communities that aim to help them prepare for rewarding careers in the industry.
The goal, organizers say, is to diversify the healthcare workforce.
“The time is now,” Dan Lavallee, senior director of the Center for Social Impact at UPMC Health Plan, told abc27 News. “Our communities need to have people from the communities that they’re in, that learn how to make sure they’re talking, understanding and listening to those in need.”
The workforce development initiative, which also has cohorts in Erie and Allegheny Counties, provides the students with hands-on learning experiences where they learn
valuable clinical, professional development, and interpersonal skills. It is free and offers childcare, transportation, and financial assistance options to reduce the barriers some students might have that prevent them from getting their education. And, following the program, graduates can apply for jobs as medical assistants, patient care technicians, community health workers, and more.
“We are giving our students a very foundational knowledge that gives them a lot of opportunities,” Trevor Mathey, project manager for Freedom House Foundations, said in an article in The Burg about the program’s success. “So, whether they want to go and immediately become a medical assistant or a patient care technician or community health worker, they have that option. But they also have the option to continue their education and go on and become an EMT or a nurse or pursue many of the other health care professions.”
Tiana Higgins, a March graduate, noted that her mother’s impact as a nurse has been her inspiration for pursuing her healthcare degree and said the Freedom House Foundations program was very hands-on, offering opportunities to shadow healthcare professionals, take a CPR training course and learn to take a blood pressure reading, among other things. Tiana will now begin working, with the goal to eventually pursue her LPN and RN certifications.
According to Mathey, there is already a waiting list for the next cohort of the Freedom House Foundations program.
For more information on UPMC Health Plan’s Freedom House Foundations, visit their website.