Never before has talent development been more crucial. Ensuring our community has the talent to fill existing industry needs and the needs of a diversifying economy requires us all to partner, engage and invest in efforts to create this strong workforce. The benefits of these collaborative efforts reach beyond any single entity. A healthy, diverse workforce builds up communities and drives economic growth and individual prosperity.
The pandemic created new challenges for workforce recruitment and retention for all industries, and especially health care. We are grateful to the Florida legislature and Governor DeSantis for the enhanced focus on and funding for education partners to provide programs that grow talent for the health care industry. And we are grateful to have such engaged local education and workforce development partners who provide pathways into health care careers.
Partnering with education to grow our future workforce and enhance current team member skills goes all the way back to the beginning for Baptist. Within a few years after Baptist Hospital opened in 1951, Baptist began working with Pensacola Junior College (now Pensacola State College) to create the first Associate of Arts nursing program in the southern portion of the United States. To this day, we continue that legacy of investing and training health care professionals.
New hospital: The New Baptist hospital is expected to open in 2023
We currently partner with 133 educational programs in northwest Florida and south Alabama, including those in area high schools, technical schools, state colleges and universities. Our community offers many opportunities for individuals seeking rewarding and meaningful careers. We are fortunate to collaborate with community partners to offer job seekers internships and employment.
Some of these partners include CareerSource EscaRosa, Escambia and Santa Rosa county public schools, Pensacola State College, University of West Florida, and Pensacola Christian College. We are grateful for the vision and leadership of these collaborators. They are delivering education and training programs that encourage community members to enter health care careers that benefit their future as well as the future of our community.
Through our partnership with CareerSource EscaRosa, we are growing our workforce for phlebotomy, pharmacy technician, medical assistant and surgical technician roles. We provide paid internships that include employee benefits while participants complete their training programs right here at Baptist. Upon completion, interns move into full-time positions from which they can build their health care careers.
We are grateful to be able to partner with public school districts to provide real-world hands-on experience for students enrolled in health science academies. We are very pleased to have recently relaunched our VolunTEEN program to provide volunteer opportunities and a realistic look at health careers for teens.
Many students from PSC, UWF and PCC who major in nursing, physical therapy assistant and other health care programs complete their required on-site training hours at our locations. We have also created our own nurse residency program to provide new graduates or those coming back into the field with additional support and training from experienced nurses.
We offer many recruiting events throughout the year to talk with potential candidates about health care careers and the opportunity to serve our community through Baptist. We incentivize our team members to recruit the skilled and experienced individuals they know to join our organization. Our goal is to provide our community with the best care possible and to foster a workplace culture that allows our team members to thrive. For us, finding and hiring phenomenal talent is essential. And we simply could not do this without these collaborative community partnerships – together we are better.
This is an exciting time at Baptist Health Care. More than a vocation, job or career, many of us see health care as a calling. Whether at the bedside, in an office or through remote work, our team members support each other and serve those in need.
Please visit ebaptisthealthcare.org to stay informed of happenings at Baptist, including training and employment opportunities.
Mark Faulkner is president and CEO of Baptist Health Care.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia uniting to maintain strong health care workforce | guestview