January 28, 2020
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Tallahassee Community College’s Gadsden Center and Sunshine Health have formed a partnership that will provide 60 Gadsden County residents with full scholarships to earn a post-secondary credential in short-term healthcare programs. The programs that will be targeted are Nursing Assistant and Home Health Aide, two fields in high demand locally and statewide.
The Gadsden Connect program is a pilot project that will provide scholarships to eligible individuals to offset the costs of the Nursing Assistant and Home Health Aide certification programs. The 60 scholarships cover the cost of tuition, uniforms and the industry recognized exams. The classes will be offered throughout the 2020 calendar year.
“We’re excited to partner with Tallahassee Community College to provide Gadsden County residents with full scholarships to earn post-secondary credentials in short-term health care programs,” said Chris Coffey, CEO of Sunshine Health. “This initiative will help address the shortage of rural health workers and open promising career paths for people in the healthcare industry.”
Recognizing that TCC wants to make an immediate impact, the Nursing Assistant program requires 120 clock hours and the Home Health Aide program requires 165 clock hours, all with a direct path to employment. Individuals interested in enrolling in the program should plan to attend the information sessions that will be held each Tuesday and Thursday at the TCC Gadsden Center located at 223 Pat Thomas Parkway, Quincy, FL at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
“Meeting the workforce needs of our community is a top priority for TCC,” said Kimberly A. Moore, VP for Workforce Innovation and TCC2WORK. “We believe that through partnerships with companies like Sunshine Health, who have made a commitment to giving back in a meaningful way to support the communities that they serve, is critical. We applaud them for their leadership and for the investment in Gadsden County that will change the lives of those trained and the lives of those served by those who have been trained.”
Sunshine Health serves more than 1 million Floridians through Medicaid, Marketplace and Medicare Advantage health plans.
For more information, contact Kim Moore, Vice President for Workforce Innovation & TCC2WORK, (850) 201-8760 or mooreki@tcc.fl.edu.