HealthWORx intiative to address job shortage in region’s health care industry
The Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance has launched a workforce initiative called HealthWORx to address the job shortage in the region’s health care industry.
The campaign is a collaborative effort between the alliance and five health care facilities in Southwest Louisiana: Beauregard Memorial Hospital, DeQuincy Memorial Hospital, Jennings American Legion Hospital, Lake Area Medical Center and Lake Charles Memorial Health System.
According to the HealthWorx website — http://allianceswla.org/healthworx — there are over 200 jobs between these five facilities, ranging from “ER nurses and medical assistants to business managers and maintenance specialists.”
Michelle McInnis, the alliance’s regional business and workforce development director, said HealthWORx isn’t only seeking to fill hundreds of jobs, but to fill them with local employees.
“Our main goal is to emphasize that health care in Southwest Louisiana is a good job, a stable job and a job that ranges from entry level to professional,” McInnis said.
According to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, there are about 90 registered nurse jobs a year in the region, and there are expected to be 3,065 more health care jobs in the area by 2022 — a 19.4 percent increase.
The problem hospitals face is finding employees who have the training and credentials to fill the positions.
To combat this problem, HealthWORx partnered with Sowela Technical Community College, McNeese State University, Delta Tech and Unitech Training academy to create programs and opportunities for students interested in medical careers.
“There is no one close in our state that offers the surgery tech curriculum, so Sowela has actually looked into that to see what they would need to do and is developing the curriculum for their Jennings location,” McInnis said. “That’s how (HealthWORx) kind of pulls everybody together to get what they need.”
Lisa Guerrero, director of marketing and public relations at Lake Area Medical Center, said HealthWORx is a “one-stop shop” for people looking to enter careers in health care or work at health care facilities in other capacities by “providing a pathway” for job applicants.
“For example, it will say this is what you need to become an information technology technician or a radiology tech,” Guerrero said. “It says, ‘This is what you would need, this is the typical salary, and these are the jobs that are currently available right here at home.’ So (job applicants) could have access to the different hospitals and all of their jobs postings and know exactly what the criteria is to apply for these jobs.”
According to the alliance, the HealthWORx site has had over 5,700 visits since launching in April, and the click-through rate is seven times the national average.
“I think the idea of the area hospitals working together to keep the interest in health care, to keep the people in Southwest Louisiana employed in health care -— it only helps all of us,” Guerrero said. “It’s just really good that all of the hospitals are working together to reach the same goal.”