Creating the Connection Between Education, Workforce, and Industry-The Greater Metro Denver Healthcare Partnership-Career Coach Professional Development Workshop March 5, 2015-MP3 Audio

The Colorado Urban Workforce Alliance (CUWA) united four Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) representing the largest and most populated regions in metropolitan Denver, CO in 2010 to drive and implement a healthcare sector partnership. The Greater Metro Denver Healthcare Partnership is an industry led, workforce, education, and economic development collaborative designed to meet the hiring, retention, and training needs identified by seven of the largest hospital systems and ambulatory care facilities in the metro Denver area. The panel highlighted key structural elements of an effective sector partnership, effective strategies to engage and support cooperation between health care competitors, critical elements for new program development designed to meet industry standards, and how they determined, tracked and reported the right metrics. The presenters shared examples of policy changes resulting from the partnership and how success was measured through pre- and post-training salaries, economic impact of increased earnings, career advancement, and sector leader satisfaction. Panel members Judy Emery, director, Colorado Urban Workforce Alliance, Kelly Folks, workforce division manager, Arapahoe/Douglas Works (CO), and Mark Genkinger, director of recruitment, Denver Health, presented this information to career coaches working on the Consortium for Healthcare Education Online project at the CHEO Career Coaches Professional Development Workshop - Hitting the Mark: Employer & Workforce Engagement, Student Recruitment, and Job Placement on March 5, 2015. The event was hosted by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and was held at its SHEPC Learning Center in Boulder, CO. The CHEO project is funded by a U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant. See http://www.wiche.edu/nanslo/CHEO-career-coach-professional-development for more information about this workshop.