Alexandria, La. (11/17/2022) — Louisiana Central was awarded a three-year $600,000 grant to create Healthcare Career Central, the first regional healthcare career highway initiative in Central Louisiana.
The Healthcare Career Central initiative is funded by a Future of HealthC.A.R.E. Program Grant from The Rapides Foundation. Through its Future of HealthC.A.R.E. (Career, Academic Readiness, and Exploration for Students) Program Grant, the Foundation seeks to increase the number of qualified Central Louisiana Students enrolling in healthcare training programs or entering the healthcare workforce. The Foundation awarded a total of $4.5 million in grants under the program.
Healthcare Career Central will collaboratively link employers, training providers, and other partners to students, teachers, counselors, and parents through a central website, social media campaign, and ongoing communication and networking events.
“The goal is to expose more students to the diverse local careers in healthcare, the pathways to those careers, and the resources available along the way,” Lafe Jones, Vice President and Executive Director of Industry Relations at Louisiana Central, said. “We appreciate The Rapides Foundation’s focus on the future healthcare workforce. Louisiana Central is excited to be part of the solution, and we look forward to working collaboratively with other grant recipients on our common goal.”
Louisiana Central has been working with a group of healthcare leaders for the past few months to understand the sector’s current and future workforce challenges. Based on provider input and guidance, Healthcare Career Central was developed. This planning group, the Louisiana Central Healthcare Alliance, will continue to grow to allow provider participation in developing this innovative healthcare career pathway.
“We look forward to being a connector in this process, ” Keisha Hamilton, Program Coordinator at Louisiana Central, said. “There are great education and nonprofit organizations in our region that expose students to healthcare careers. Our goal is to help promote the many available healthcare careers and be a link to the regional opportunities, resources, and training programs along the career highway.”
