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Central Community College, in partnership with Southeast Community College, has been awarded more than $2.1 million in grant money from the U.S. Department of Labor.
CCC and its partners will use the funds from the President's Community-based Job Training Grants Initiative to prepare students for health care careers.
The Healthcare Synergy project will focus on occupational therapy assistants, physical therapy assistants, licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, dental assistants and medical assistants.
Currently, there is no occupational therapy assistant program in Nebraska. CCC will work with the Nebraska Postsecondary Coordinating Commission to develop the new program.
"This grant opens many educational opportunities for central and southeast Nebraskans in high-growth careers in health care," said Deborah Brennan, dean of health occupations at CCC and co-principal investigator for the grant. "Our partners need to be recognized for their support in the grant and their participation in the activities over the next three years."
Partners in addition to SCC include members of CCC's Health Care Task Force, including Greater Lincoln and Greater Nebraska Workforce Investment System One-stop Career Centers, and St. Francis Medical Center.
The Healthcare Synergy project will focus on developing new occupational and physical therapy assistant programs, teaching ninth- through 12th-grade early-college medical terminology and limited English proficiency health care classes.
A total of 1,400 community college students, workers and individuals from untapped labor pools will participate in the training.
Other local and regional partners include Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, BryanLGH Medical Center, St. Elizabeth's Regional Medical Center, Memorial Community Health, Good Samaritan Hospital-Kearney, Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center, Boone County Health Center and Medical Clinics and East-Central Health Department.
Still other local and regional partners include Grand Island Physical Therapy, Lockwood and Meeske Pediatric Dentistry, Lone Tree Medical Associates, University of Nebraska Medical Center, K-12 schools (Heartland, Norris, Wilber-Claytonia, Milford and 17 CCC Tech Prep high schools), Nebraska Department of Education, FutureForce Nebraska, Nebraska Hospital Association, Nebraska Center for Nursing, Area Health Education Centers, Nebraska Dental Association and the Nebraska Medical Association.
CCC is one of only 69 community colleges and community-based institutions nationwide that competed successfully to receive a total $125 million in grants.
Metropolitan Community College in Omaha received nearly $1.9 million.
The purpose of the $2.1 million grant is to prepare workers for careers in high-growth industries. CCC chose health care as its high-growth industry.
Awardees were chosen from among 341 applications received in response to a competition announced on Aug. 8, 2007.
Introduced by President Bush in his 2004 State of the Union address, Community-based Job Training Grants improve the ability of community colleges to provide their regions' workers with the skills needed to enter growing industries.
The first round of 70 competitive awards was made on Oct. 19, 2005. The second round of 72 awards was made on Dec. 11, 2006.
The most recent 69 grants awarded will support projects in 36 states.
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