Health Care Career Pathways

Since 2003, more than 1,500 hospital employees have received assessment and/or career counseling, and more than 500 have enrolled in subsidized health care training through the WDC's hospital partnership, Career Pathways.

Career Pathways stations career specialists from WorkSource at five hospitals in King County to offer career options to hospital employees, not just to nurses and allied health workers who want to move up, but also low-skilled employees in housekeeping and food service who are interested in starting health-care careers.

The career specialists offer a connection to training subsidies (including federally funded Individual Training Accounts through the WDC) and other services, such as English language learning.

Career Pathways currently operates at:

• Swedish Medical Center
• Group Health Cooperative
• Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center
• Virginia Mason Medical Center
• Harborview Medical Center

History of Career Pathways

In 2002, the WDC and the Washington State Hospital Association brought together a group of local hospital executives, labor leaders and college administrators to examine critical staffing shortages in health care. The WDC published the panel’s analysis and its recommendations in a February 2003 report called In Critical Condition: Seattle-King County's Hospital Staffing Crisis. Among the problems identified was that despite hospitals’ desperate need for nurses and technicians and a high interest in these careers, community colleges and nursing schools could not offer enough classes to meet the demand, due to high costs and reduced state funding. Another challenge was the lack of support for career progression in the health care sector. Those who wish to upgrade their skills—especially those at the lower skill levels—face many barriers in their career path, including the high costs and limited availability of training.

Career Pathways was a direct response by the WDC to face the latter need.

Meanwhile, the WDC, community colleges and hospitals worked together to expand the capacity of two- and four-year nursing and radiology technology programs in King County—essentially, opening the “pipeline” so that more students could be trained in these highly desired but high-cost programs.

Key Partners

In addition to the hospitals listed above, the following organizations participated in the WDC's Health Care Staffing Panel and subsequent sector initiatives:

• WorkSource Seattle-King County
• Bellevue Community College
• Shoreline Community College
• TRAC Associates (WorkSource service provider)
• Pacific Associates (WorkSource service provider)
• Service Employees International Union 1199
• Washington State Hospital Association
• Health Work Force Institute

Funding

The WDC has invested approximately $1.3 million since 2003 to implement key recommendations of the health care panel, cobbling together federal, state and private funds, as well as industry contributions through our key partner, the Health Work Force Institute.

Career Pathways

Funding for Career Pathways career specialists comes from the WDC's federal and state funding, as well as participating hospitals. When hospital employees enter career training at a local college, the career specialist works with them to apply for financial aid and helps them access other subsidies, including federal training accounts through the WDC.

The hospitals ensured the sustainability of Career Pathways in spring 2005 when they agreed to fund 50 percent of the cost of the on-site staff. Now in its third year, this investment is more than $210,000.

Hospitals have also contributed generous in-kind support, such as paid release time for employees to attend training, use of equipment for clinical training and office space and equipment for the on-site career specialists.

Expanding College Capacity

The WDC pursued federal and state grants to invest more than $1 million to expand the capacity of two- and four-year nursing and radiology technology programs in King County. Community colleges were close partners in adding these dollars to state funding to make the best use of limited resources. The hospitals also contributed $300,000 to leverage the WDC’s state incentive grant to add 90 new slots in community-college training programs.

Career Pathways Recognition

In 2004, Jobs for the Future, an early funder of the program, published Creating Pathways to Advancement: A Manual for Project Developers based on the Career Pathways pilot project. It has been shared throughout the country.