MAHONING VALLEY Group to push jobs in health care

Reaching high school students is a 2004 goal.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR HEALTH WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- There are careers available in the health-care field at all levels, and Mahoning Valley residents don't have to leave home to get them, said Michele Hoffmeister, director of public relations at Salem Community Hospital.
The next step, said Walt Ulbricht, executive director of university marketing and communications at Youngstown State University, is to let people know what employment is available in the field.
Hoffmeister and Ulbricht commented Wednesday at the one-year anniversary meeting of the Northeast Ohio HealthForce Wednesday at Mr. Anthony's in Boardman.
NEO HealthForce is an industry cluster formed a year ago in response to the work-force shortage in the health-care industry. An industry cluster is an economic development strategy in which industries work together to solve their common concerns, said Karla Krodel, cluster director.
HealthForce consists of chief executive officers of health-care providers, public officials and educational resources in Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties.
Campaign
Ulbricht said one way the group plans to reach people is through a billboard campaign. Lamar Advertising Co. is supplying 30 billboards, 10 each in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. The billboard will be joined by other outreach efforts to inform people who may be exploring a health-care career, he said.
NEO HealthForce is a collaborative between the health-care industry, educators and other community leaders working together to tell YSU and other training centers which training programs would make sense, said Tony Atwater, provost and vice president for academic affairs for YSU.
During its first year, NEO HealthForce, under the leadership of its Employer Advisory Council, set collaboration and career pathway development as its first priority areas, said John Lenzi, vice president of human resources for Salem Hospital.
New priorities for 2004 include recruitment and outreach to find employees, reaching direct-caregivers, marketing the health-care field, and high-tech training.
Other goals
Other 2004 goals include expanding educational outreach to high school youth; standardizing career workshops; and developing and standardizing career guidance for current health-care workers, said Donald Currier, senior vice president of human resources at Forum Health.
Currier said he would like to see a three-year funding strategy developed, and the organization get more visibility.
"We got some good stuff, but it's only as good as what gets out," he said.
Part of NEO HealthForce's 2004 outreach effort is continued development of a Web site which will tell potential employees what jobs and training are available, and let employers know who is looking for work, said Donald Curry, labor market analyst for the Ohio Department of Job & amp; Family Services.
Curry said he has not come across any other organizations doing what NEO HealthForce does.
As a result of its uniqueness, NEO HealthForce has been invited to partner with the Regional Workforce Partnership Northeast Ohio Universities in planning a health-care work-force summit for 17 counties in northeast Ohio.
NEO HealthForce is a collaborative across company and jurisdictional lines to do something innovative in the health-care work-force area, Atwater said.
"We are taking the lead in our area and perhaps the country," he said.
alcorn@vindy.com