Helping people start health care careers target of Champaign/Clark State partnership: How to get involved

OhioMeansJobs Champaign County has partnered with Clark State College to help focus on rural healthcare programs. Here, Adalay Yearby, a nursing student at Clark State College, gave Amanda Kothman a COVID vaccine last year. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

OhioMeansJobs Champaign County has partnered with Clark State College to help focus on rural healthcare programs. Here, Adalay Yearby, a nursing student at Clark State College, gave Amanda Kothman a COVID vaccine last year. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

OhioMeansJobs Champaign County has partnered with Clark State College to help focus on careers in rural health care.

The partnership expands new and existing career paths in rural health care that will focus on skills, competencies and credentials needed for middle- to high-skilled direct patient health care occupations; offer high-quality training options; provide support services to participants; and engage health care providers and employers, according to a release from the college.

Champaign is one of seven counties awarded an H1-B Rural Health Care grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to help increase the number of students training in health care programs that impact patient care and to alleviate workforce shortages.

“We would like to encourage anyone that is interested in a career change, advancing their career or already enrolled in an eligible training to contact us. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Clark State College and support their students with this grant,” Amy Sherman, workforce supervisor at Champaign County Department of Job and Family Services, said.

The eligible Clark State programs include: nursing, practical nursing, nursing assistant, medical laboratory technology, EMT, paramedic, phlebotomy, social services technologies, chemical dependency, addiction and recovery services, physical therapy assistant, diagnostic medical sonography, occupational therapy assistant, radiographic imagining and pharmacy technician.

Melody Gast, career services coordinator at Clark State, said the grant will provide financial assistance to eligible students for training, resources, paid work experiences and other types of support needed to complete the training.

“Clark State is focused on providing high-quality education that emphasizes student and community success,” Gast said. “We are thrilled to partner with OhioMeansJobs Champaign County to assist our students reach their health care career goals.”

For more information, email careers@clarkstate.edu.

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