Clark University and Public Consulting Group (PCG) are proud to share that Clark will partner with CommunityHealth IT (CommHIT) for the Tech Quest Apprenticeship initiative. In 2019, Department of Labor awarded Clark University, the lead institution, and grantee, a $12 million grant to create and expand apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship in technology and technology-related jobs. PCG is the administrative entity for the grant. Tech Quest Apprenticeship is a facilitated collaboration between stakeholders in higher education, the workforce development community, and the private sector. Learn more about PCG’s workforce development services here.  

Read Clark’s announcement about this exciting partnership with CommHIT below:

CommHIT to partner with Clark University’s Tech Quest Apprenticeship initiative to train health tech workers

Kennedy Space Center, FL – CommunityHealth IT (CommHIT) will partner with Tech Quest Apprenticeship, a national initiative led by Clark University’s School of Professional Studies, to provide information technology (IT) and IT-related apprenticeships to unemployed, underemployed, and incumbent workers through 2023.

Statement from Kendra Siler, PhD, President/CEO, CommHIT:

“CommHIT’s moonshot has been to build a more flexible health workforce geared towards using technology to meet day-to-day needs and emergency needs of communities that may occur. CommHIT is grateful to partner with Clark University on their Tech Quest Apprenticeship program to help the nation step closer to a workforce that can handle cybersecurity threats and public health emergencies wherever they may be through digital healthcare.”

Statement from Lisa Hamilton (Jones), PhD, MPH, Co-President, FLCHWC:

“The Florida Community Health Worker Coalition (FLCHWC) has been a long-standing partner of CommHIT. Through the Tech Quest Apprenticeship program, FLCHWC is working with CommHIT to arm CHWs with technology training apprenticeships that provide secure, well-paying jobs, while bolstering public health infrastructure. CHWs are a crucial link between the communities they serve and health systems, helping patients overcome barriers to care; it only makes sense for CHWs to be integrated into technology as healthcare goes in that direction says, Dr. Lisa Hamilton, co-president of the Coalition.”

Statement from Dug Jones, Program Director, Tech Quest Apprenticeship:

“Apprenticeships are the perfect vehicle and CommHIT is the perfect partner to maximize this opportunity to help develop young people for careers in IT and IT-related health professions.”

Background

Tech Quest Apprenticeship and CommHIT partnered to maximize the impact of their grant funding from the Office of Apprenticeship within the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. In 2020 the U.S faced the beginning of a public health and technology emergency. Not only was 2020 the year of the COVID pandemic, cybersecurity experts called last year the Cyber pandemic because of the dramatic increases in cyber attacks. CommHIT is working toward building a more flexible public health workforce geared towards using technology to meet day-to-day needs and emergency needs of communities. An apprentice pipeline is a key part of the strategy to build this workforce, hence the partnership with Clark University's Tech Quest. Tech Quest assists individuals 17 years and older who are unemployed, underemployed or are incumbent workers needing new skills.

Together, CommHIT and Tech Quest are providing apprenticeship program development and expansion assistance in the following two apprenticeships: TeleHealth Navigator and Cyber First Responder. Tech Quest’s grant funding focuses on eight states: California, Florida, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Texas. CommHIT's national reach leverages existing relationships with employers and training providers in these states to support Tech Quest’s efforts as well as create sustainable employment opportunities for the workers that reside in these communities.

CommunityHealth IT (CommHIT), established in 2011, is a 501(c)(6) located at the Kennedy Space Center that prioritizes the patient, social factors, and the local workforce in the care continuum. CommHIT helps health systems and safety net medical facilities overcome the barriers that slow health information technology (HIT) adoption by helping them recoup substantial IT costs through federal programs, navigate federal HIT regulations and healthcare delivery changes, participate in institutional review board (IRB)-approved patient-centered research, transmit health data securely and privately, avoid data breaches and federal penalties caused by cybersecurity events, and help train the healthcareworkforce in technology and health sector jobs to meet emerging needs.

CommHIT does its work so you can do your work, taking great care of patients.

Florida Community Health Worker Coalition (FLCHWC) is a tax exempt nonprofit educational organization considered one of the most effective voices in Florida championing for the advancement of the community health worker (CHW) profession. To promote its mission and plans, the Coalition considers input from a variety of stakeholders through conference calls, focus groups, surveys of members.

Tech Quest Apprenticeship, funded by a $12 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration, provides business technology training nationwide for unemployed and underemployed individuals, and to those who seek to master relevant technology skillsin an evolving workplace. Clark University is working with the Public Consulting Group (PCG) and a national consortium of workforce development boards to provide 4,000 pre-apprenticeships and 1,000 information technology (IT) and IT-related apprenticeships to thousands of individuals in eight states through 2023.

Founded in 1887, Clark University is a liberal arts-based research university that prepares its students to meet tomorrow’s most daunting challenges and embrace its greatest opportunities. Through 33 undergraduate majors, more than 30 advanced degree programs, and nationally recognized community partnerships, Clark fuses rigorous scholarship with authentic world and workplace experiences that empower our learning community to pursue lives and careers of meaning and consequence. Clark’s academic departments and institutes develop solutions to complex global problems across the disciplines, and the University addresses the behavioral health of adolescents and young adults through the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise.

Kendra Siler
Info@CommunityHealthIT.org
Phone: (904)318-5803

Angela Bazydlo Clark University
abazydlo@clarku.edu
Phone: 508-793-7554