SignalsAZ.com Prescott News Podcast - Yavapai College Addressing Healthcare Workforce Challenges

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

Send us a text and chime in!Join Guy Roginson, Ashley Picard, and Kathrine Anderson from Yavapai College for an engaging discussion about the critical role of Allied Health programs in shaping the future of local healthcare.Discover how Yavapai College is preparing students for high-demand healthcare careers, the challenges they face in retaining graduates, and the impact of housing and community support on the healthcare workforce.Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

Hey, listen in as we talk about all the things coming out of Yopai College as it relates to their allied health program, which is all of our medical programs, nurses, LPNs, RNs, CNAs. This is really important information as it relates to our health care and our housing in Yopai County. I want to get into what you do at the college and then who we're trained. what the demand is all about, why it's so challenging. Can you describe what your role is over the Younger College? Sure. So I'm Director of Allied Health.

I oversee all of our entry-level certificate health care programs. So under my purview, our nursing assistant in LPN in terms of nursing services, we work really closely with our nursing department that oversees the associate's degree in bachelor's program. So both of the CNA and LPN lead into those two programs. I also oversee medical records, medical office, medical assistant, phlebotomy, and behavioral health technician. So they're the entry level sort of building block careers of our health care system.

We have some great partnerships with our local high schools, dual enrollment. We really try to go out into the community and give out as much information as we can to those that are as young as possible to get some excitement out and about so that they can start learning what types of careers are here. And then our goal really is to get our students in and provide them career progression in terms of education. So they can start with us at Yavapai College, get an entry level position out in the community, and then they can come back to us to continue growing on their career. Start with a certificate, come back for an associates, come back for a bachelor's. We can do all of that in our community to keep our students here. Can your programs

provide a student to become an RN? Is that? Yes. Yeah. So one of our requirements for our end program is nursing assistant. So we can start training students to become a nursing assistant. Three weeks, 16 weeks, they can still be in high school. They can be out of high school and retired and looking for another career. Our age range and experience is vast. So they can start with us as a CNA. They can come back to do LPN training to step up their skill set, have a higher living wage career, and then they can choose to come back again and become an RN if they choose at that point. So let's talk about living wage for a second. What does a new RN typically start out at from a salary standpoint? I'd say on average in our community, you're looking at 70,000 plus,

depending on very livable, right? Of course, there's a lot of variables to that. You can work nights and weekends and holidays. There's different specialties that may pay a little bit more if it's higher acuity and whatnot. But there are so many different pathways to go in health care. Lots of different avenues. I just want the young people to know the opportunities that are right here. And the reason why I say that is I just went through an experience with a parent who ended up in ER, ICU eventually to a rehab facility. And that entire process lasted from July 5th to September 7th.

And in that time, I probably earned my CNA. Yes. Yes, I'm sure you did. Every day there. Got to know everybody at ER, got to know everybody in ICU, got to know everybody in the hospital room, got to know everybody over at the rehab and Prescott. And what I observed was very busy people that the staffing, they were probably whatever level we're all kind of challenged with a little bit.

It was very good at the ICU and ER levels, but I noticed at the general level or even in the rehab facilities, they were probably strapped a little bit with staffing. Yeah. All very good jobs. We need more. Why are we not seeing more? Because I know there's a tie that I think we really need to talk about in our community.

and I think that goes back to housing and costs and all these things. What message would you give to our residents up here that are retired in terms of the importance of housing for these young people and for our educational facilities? Housing and cost of living is a big deterrent. It's very expensive to live here. It's very difficult to live here for our students to graduate and, for our students to graduate. and for us to retain them so that they can go back out into our local healthcare industry is imperative. And I think as a community, we have to work together to make that happen to them. Again, from housing to pay rates to amenities in our area, we need to target our health care workers to keep them here.

Right. So we're talking about providing more housing, right? allowing that to happen politically as well socially because we know where do we have to go if we can't get our health services here. Yes. We're going down the hill, down the 17, I think, and spending an hour and a half to go one way and then we don't have a place to stay overnight if we're a loved one, they were getting a hotel room, that extra expense.

This is something I just experienced, right? So is that one of the big barriers? that you're seeing for the young professional that does want to stay here, get educated at Yopai College. It's a great program. I know a number of companies that's supported through scholarships, including our parent company. What do you say to the folks that are here that maybe don't connect? I don't want more people here, but I want better medical care. It goes hand in hand, right? In order to get that medical, better medical care, we have to be able to support our graduates and be attractive to retain

them here. Again, it's affordable housing. It's amenities to have them here. It's education, even the K-12 education. They're bringing young families with them. We have to be attractive to keep them here. While we do retain a lot of our graduates in our community, there are still graduates leaving and going elsewhere. We're exporting them, right? We educate them and then we export them. Yeah, which is not our goal as a community college. We want to educate here.

We want to retain them and keep them here in our community. Housing is one of the biggest barriers. Definitely. So I'm not going to put you guys in a corner because I know it's a touchy subject, but it's important that we reiterate constantly that we need young families here. so that they can take advantage of the opportunities at our learning institutions to stay here and raise families, support those services that we're talking about. And I think people still don't always, I'm a big proponent of what you guys are doing,

and we are as a general as a company because of the service you provide. I don't think a lot of people know the dual enrollment and how you can start earning credits towards your college education right in high school. Yeah. And young people need to understand that. Yeah. How easy that makes it later on in life. Oh, yes.

My daughter graduated high school as a CNA. Yep. That's awesome. Yeah. She was 18, well, 19 years old. It was working as a CNA. And I have to say it was hard for her, though, because the older CNAs at the facilities weren't taking her seriously because she was so young.

Right. How are you a CNA? But she did it. Yeah. During high school. And I just thought that was awesome that that experience was available, how we were preparing our youngsters, just graduate and be able to go right out into the workforce. And just an earlier start on that track to whether it's becoming an RN or a physician or whatever it is, but being productive early on and having that opportunity, you know, making sure that our young people and parents and grandparents know what the college is providing the opportunities. but then again also educating our established residents here.

We need your help in supporting bringing in young families and bringing in housing that's attainable to support the programs. Absolutely. It all kind of goes together. If you don't want to drive down to Phoenix or wherever and stay in a hotel room, we need these services and these opportunities. Absolutely. So thanks for what you do.

I appreciate that. Thank you.