JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. —Rogue Valley-based La Clinica says there’s a shortage of healthcare workers in southern Oregon. It’s now creating a program to address the issue, head-on. Over the last few years, many local organizations have had to get creative with filling positions. Now La Clinica is doing just that to meet its growing need for healthcare workers.
“Like so many other employers, those of us in healthcare can struggle to find great employees,” said Max Brooks with La Clinica.
Medford non-profit La Clinica aims to provide healthcare to low-income people across Jackson County. It recently received a $1 million grant from the Oregon Health Authority to develop workforce training programs as part of its education and support services.
“One of the things that La Clinica has long been committed to is building up our healthcare workforce here in the area and we recognize just how important that is,” said Brooks.
The organization will use the money to develop training programs in areas like dental, medical, behavioral health, and more. La Clinica will utilize its existing programs and work with its partners with the goal of creating pathways to new jobs.
“How are we ensuring that we are training people once they are in these positions so they are up-skilled you can come in start with no experience whatsoever and really build a long career here at La Clinica with educational assistance, training, and support from these grant funds,” said Brooks.
“The good news is throughout the last three years is we’ve had access to additional funding to help people that may need to skill up to better their career pathways,” said Stratton with WorkSource Rogue Valley.
WorkSource Rogue Valley, which works to get people employed. Healthcare is a priority sector for the agency, according to Stratton.
“If there’s grants or programs that are available to help businesses or organizations with any type of training I think everyone is looking at how to get people in their pipeline to meet those critical needs,” said Stratton.
La Clinica says by filling more positions it will be able to better serve the needs of the community. Rogue Workforce’ says the most important thing people should know is there are a variety of resources to find work. We’ll have links on our website to learn more about how you can find work through La Clinica or Work Source Rogue Valley.
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