College seeks interest in care-worker program for on-island course plan

An international health care provider with a college in Vancouver is looking to expand its base by offering a satellite program on Salt Spring next year.

Susan Gooding, manager of program development for Drake Medox College, said the school has been offering the Health Care Assistant Diploma Program for almost eight years in Vancouver and is now hoping to reach out to other communities.?Drake Medox is interested in offering its six-month program beginning in 2012 if a minimum of 12 participants register.

?As health care providers, and advocates for quality care for our senior community, our interest extends beyond our service provision boundaries, to the general seniors? population,? Gooding explained in an email.

?We are hoping to provide satellite locations for one-time delivery of the Health Care Assistant Diploma Program to a number of areas throughout B.C. where there is a gap between the need for qualified facility and home care services and the supply of certified Health Care Assistants.?

The college has identified Salt Spring as a community with a growing seniors? population and a need for more community care workers to help keep seniors in their homes. As well, Gooding said, a change in government regulations means that all newly hired health care assistants will need to have diploma certification.

Gooding has talked to a number of local health care providers to learn what the community need might be, including Lady Minto Hospital, Greenwoods Elder Care and private home support workers. She has secured agreements from some of these groups to allow students to complete the practicum portion of the program with them.

?After talking to the employers, it doesn?t seem that 12 is too many,? she said, adding that job placement after graduation is one of the college?s primary concerns for its students.

?Greenwoods has been extremely accommodating. They probably stand to benefit the most [from the added workers] ? as well as the retirement community.?

Gooding said she has not yet been able to reach Beacon Community Services, the company contracted by the Vancouver Island Health Authority to provide community health workers to the Gulf Islands region, but in an interview with the Driftwood, Beacon?s media spokesperson Kerry Readshaw could not say whether newly graduated workers were actually likely to find jobs on Salt Spring.

?It?s certainly safe to say that it?s a training path that makes sense for people to explore,? she said.

?In a general sense people are aging and more people are requiring care.?

To make the program more accessible, Drake Medox plans to reduce its normal tuition of $7,550 to $7,000 for the six-month course. That comes in at around $500 more per month than students would find at a Vancouver Island community college, but as Gooding points out, that price doesn?t factor ferry costs and commuting time into the equation.

The course is eligible for funding through student loans and some government employment programs. Funding is also available to help existing care aide workers upgrade their certification. To make it even more accessible, Gooding suggests that local service organizations and businesses could step up to the plate and create scholarships using their own criteria, noting the program cost ?does seem to be a major barrier.?

?The businesses obviously stand to benefit,? she said, ?because the more seniors can stay on Salt Spring, the more the local economy will prosper.?

After placing ads locally, Gooding has received several course applications to date. Ideally she would like to start the program in March, but said the date is a ?moving target? depending on how many other people sign up.

Applicants will go through a screening process and should have an English 12 credit or equivalent, and need to pass a physical clearance and a criminal record check. Gooding plans to host an information session on the island in the new year.

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Anyone who is interested in the program or in sponsoring students should contact her at SGooding@na.drakeintl.com.

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Source: http://www.gulfislandsdriftwood.com/community/135967918.html

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