Unitek Learning Seeks to Reduce Nursing Shortage in California
NEWPORT
BEACH, Calif., July 26,
2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Unitek Learning and Kaweah
Health are thrilled to announce a new partnership to help reduce
the nursing shortage in California. Together, they seek to implement a
customized workforce solution that will produce skilled and
educated graduates who are ready to enter the medical field and
help integrated health systems such as a Kaweah Health care for
their patients.
Kaweah Health, which for 60 years has served patients in
California's agriculture-rich
Central Valley, has worked diligently over the years through local
and regional partnerships to solve its nursing shortage, but the
pandemic highlighted the need to do more.
Founded in 2002, Unitek College is a division of Unitek Learning
and an accredited, private institution that combines unique
academic and technical specialties to provide a superior education
in the areas of healthcare and nursing. Unitek College offers seven
convenient facilities in California with campuses in Fremont, San
Jose, Hayward, Concord, South San
Francisco, Sacramento, and
Bakersfield.
"The pandemic has been absolutely crippling to our workforce,
the majority of which are bedside nurses. It's shown us that we
have to do more, we have to think outside the box to grow the next
generation of nurses," said Lynn Havard
Mirviss, RN, Ed.D, and Vice President of Kaweah Health's
Board of Directors. "There are many out there who like Florence Nightingale are ready to step up and
serve. This partnership with Unitek is one way to help these men
and women become nurses and raise the standards of care for
patients."
Through this partnership, employees of Kaweah Health can start
their career in nursing through Unitek's Bachelor of Science in
Nursing (BSN) as soon as 2023. At full complement, the Kaweah
Health school of nursing powered by Unitek will graduate up to 50
Kaweah Health RNs a year. The college also offers an LVN to BSN
option for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. It serves as
an advanced placement track for qualifying students.
"This new partnership will be an excellent opportunity for
Kaweah Health employees to continue their education and to help
address the nursing shortage at both Kaweah Health and across the
state," said Dianne Cox, Chief Human
Resources Officer at Kaweah Health. She added: "In the future, we
plan to open this school to members of the community, who will be
able to join Kaweah Health as an employee while pursuing their
nursing degree."
"It has been a pleasure to work with the Kaweah Health Team and
develop this partnership," said Karilyn Van
Oosten, Vice President of Strategic Business Development at
Unitek Learning. "Their commitment to the community and the
workforce has been evident in every step they took to ensure that
students can flourish in their facilities."
By joining this partnership, Unitek Learning has committed to
providing employees of Kaweah Health with a specialized tuition
rate and an opportunity to advance their healthcare career. Kaweah
Health is committing financial resources to help offset the nursing
students' tuition. Through this partnership, Unitek Learning has
identified themselves as one of the nation's most dedicated
academic institutions.
"At Unitek, we are committed to education and workforce
alignment so that the next generation can thrive," said
Janis Paulson, Chief Executive
Officer at Unitek Learning. "We're honored to join forces with
Kaweah Health and help transform the healthcare workforce. As a
learning institution, we want to create career-ready professionals
that are needed in the medical industry. This partnership is a step
forward for Unitek as we continue to educate future healthcare
professionals."
Unitek Learning is the parent company of several distinguished
learning institutions: Unitek College, Unitek EMT, Eagle Gate
College, Provo College, and
Brookline College. Unitek programs
teach the clinical practices and theory used in the field today.
Equipped with a multitude of sought-after skills, Unitek graduates
are prepared to excel in many of the fastest-growing careers in
healthcare and nursing.
To find out how to take advantage of all this partnership
affords, call 888.382.8183 or contact us today.
Media Contact
Karilyn Van Oosten, VP of
Strategic Business Development, Unitek Learning, (949) 408-3167,
KVanOosten@unitek.com
SOURCE Unitek Learning