Hospitals offering employee training

PANAMA CITY — There has never been a better time for someone who wanted to get into the health care field, a hospital’s top official said Friday.

HealthSouth Emerald Coast Hospital, along with Bay Medical Center, Gulf Coast Medical Center and Weems Memorial Hospital, will receive the benefits of a nearly $500,000 grant the Gulf Coast Workforce Board secured to offer training for health professionals. The Healthcare Advancement Ladder Occupations (HALO) program has launched in collaboration between the four hospital to meet the healthcare employment needs.

“It’s going to allow me to offer some educational opportunities that I might not otherwise be able to offer,” HealthSouth CEO Tony Bennett said.

The grant will run for 18 months and will be geared toward about 600 individuals trying to enter the health care industry or current employees who want to acquire skills to further their careers.

As one of the smaller hospitals, HealthSouth expects to send a couple dozen employees through the training, funded by the grant. Others in the community will be able to obtain and improve their skill sets and HealthSouth could employ them in the future, Bennett said.

The goals of the grant, which the work-force board received, include job creation and training.

“We are just really glad we got it,” said Kim Bodine, executive director of the Workforce Board. “We have a huge influx of people because of the economy that are looking for new skill sets.”

The hospitals are approaching their employees who have expressed interest in career development, but members of the community can go to the workforce board to obtain more information about training and job opportunities.

The Gulf Coast Workforce Board was one of 13 agencies to receive funding from the Employ Florida Healthcare Workforce Initiative grant. The training will be offered in a traditional classroom setting and online courses.

Bodine said they will be helping people obtain their certificate to train others, so they can create a local pool of health care trainers.

“This grant means that we will have a well-trained health-care work force,” Bodine said.

For more information about participating in the HALO program, contact Don Ford at Haney Technical Center at 747-5500 ext. 5317 or Judy Turcotte at Gulf Coast Community College at 769-1551, ext. 4234.