Prima Civitas Has $340,000 To Train Health Care Workers in Mid-Michigan

The Prima Civitas Foundation is poised to fund healthcare training for 150 displaced workers in the 13-county Mid-Michigan area.

The project is part of a $2 million initiative funded by the U. S. Department of Labor and the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth. $340,000 is allotted to train 400 dislocated workers in all, says Steven Bennett, project manager.

Based on a similar training program the economic development think tank led in the Flint area, the foundation seeks proposals from community colleges, Michigan Works branches, and others who can train people in the next 18 months in fields like medical records management, medical billing, physical and respiratory therapy, ultra-sound and more.

The program is called M-PaTH, or Mid-Michigan Partnership for Training in Healthcare, and proposal forms are available here. Forms are due by Oct. 30. Training is to begin in January.

Bennett hopes to catch the attention of groups like the Capital Healthcare and Employment Council, a consortium of employers convened by Capital Area Michigan Works!

“They make sure training is happening for the jobs that are needed,” Bennett says.

“We see ourselves as a conduit for all the good things that are happening in economic development in Michigan’s shift from manufacturing reliance to a more entrepreneurial spirit,” Bennett says.

This approach to workforce training focuses on the potential employers. M-PaTH was designed around the successful Greater Flint Health Coalition's Flint Healthcare Employment Opportunities project, which focused workforce development on employers, and aligned training opportunities with their real needs, Bennett says.

Source: Steven Bennett, Prima Civitas 

Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here. 

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie