Under the American Apprenticeship Initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Lake County collaborative has facilitated apprenticeships with employers in the region including the Lake County Health Department, which has established a customized, competency-based apprenticeship to train for the position of a hospital coder, and Legacy Healthcare, a leading provider of residential health care services with more than twenty facilities in Illinois, which is launching immersion training for seven apprentices to help current registered nurses pursue new positions as clinical documentation specialists. In the coming months, we will continue to encourage more regional healthcare employers to offer apprenticeship opportunities. We will also address the need for stronger educational pathways in Health Informatics.
Finally, earlier this summer we undertook a strategic planning process engaging key partners including Workforce Development of Lake County, Lake County Partners, North Chicago Community High School, College of Lake County, and Rosalind Franklin University (President’s Office, Strategic Enrollment Management, and Interprofessional Healthcare Workforce Institute). The group revised and reviewed the impact of the work done in the community and the direction that we should focus on to achieve a collective sustainable future and ensure that the Lake County workforce is ready to respond to the challenges of the labor market. The process was transformative and the results were shared with all its members at the September 12, 2017, meeting at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
