Workforce Project Asset List
Please click on the regions in the map below to see Workforce development projects specific to that region.
If you have any questions, or would like to add a resource, please contact Senior Talent Pipeline Manager, North Central Region, Sara Tracy.
All Programs
| Project/Program | Project Description | Target Audience | ADD | hf:doc_categories | hf:doc_tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegrass Planning Consortium | For more than 40 years, the Bluegrass Planning Consortium has worked with educators and employers to plan clinical rotations. This is a seamless and collaborative process, as opposed to the “first come, first serve” practices across the state, and work is underway to share this “best practice” with other regions. | Post-secondary | Bluegrass | post-secondary | bluegrass |
| Bus To Business | Bus to Business® is a statewide initiative focused on bridging the gap between classrooms and careers, so students are better equipped to make career choices. Hospitals across the state have hosted students for a variety of work-based learning experiences through this program. | High School | Statewide | high-school | statewide |
| C.H.A.R.G.E. (Creating Healthcare Advancement opportunities to promote Rural Kentucky under-Graduate nursing excellence) | Through Creating Healthcare Advancement Opportunities to Promote Rural Kentucky Undergraduate Nursing Excellence (C.H.A.R.G.E.), students interested in nursing participate in monthly virtual and in-person workshops to explore the nursing career field. The program includes job shadowing and advising support. | High School | Purchase | high-school | purchase |
| Career and Technical Education Health Science Learning Pathway for Work Based Learning (FUSION) | The Christian County Public School (CCPS) System uses a Career and Technical Education Health Science Learning Pathway as part of FUSION, their work-based learning program, to create active health care work-based learning experiences or co-ops. Through this initiative, Jennie Stuart Health is building a workforce pipeline. For more details about FUSION and CCPS, visit christian.kyschools.us/fusion. | High School | Pennyrile | high-school | pennyrile |
| Central and NKY Collaborative | The Central and Northern Kentucky TPM® Collaborative launched in late 2023 with three focus areas: improving K-12 engagement, creating grant funding opportunities for training and upskilling, and addressing clinical rotation scheduling and staffing challenges. | High School | Northern Kentucky | high-school | northern-kentucky |
| Challenger Learning Center | The Pikeville Medical Center Workforce Innovation Center will provide participating middle school classes with project-based instructional materials and activities aligned with Kentucky science core content. Once the curriculum has been completed in the classroom, the students will take a memorable trip to the Challenger Learning Center, where they will participate in the newest program, “Artemis-Mission ECHO” (Exploring Community Healthcare Occupations). | K-8 | Big Sandy | k-8 | big-sandy |
| College Rural Scholars | The College Rural Scholar Program, through the University of Louisville Trover Campus, aims to support students from rural western Kentucky counties (Professional Education Preparation Program or PEPP and non-PEPP) who may become physicians and return to similar communities. The students are nominated as early as their first term in college, and those selected become scholars the following summer. They receive a small academic scholarship during their last three years of college and participate in a three-week summer session each year. | Post-secondary | Pennyrile | post-secondary | pennyrile |
| Community Action Poverty Simulation | The Community Action Poverty Simulation, hosted by Purchase Area Health Education Center (AHEC), breaks down stereotypes by allowing participants to observe others’ real-life situations. This simulation will enable individuals to walk in the shoes of someone facing poverty for one month. Currently, this program only focuses on nursing students at Murray State University to assist in conversations about patient experiences, history, and care. | Post-secondary | Purchase | post-secondary | purchase |
| Eastern Kentucky Collaborative | The Eastern Kentucky Collaborative launched in November of 2023. HR directors, workforce development coordinators, and educators across the region have come together to focus on the unique needs of eastern Kentucky with three focus areas: improving K-12 engagement, creating grant funding opportunities for training and upskilling, and addressing challenges around clinical rotations scheduling and staffing. | Upskiling | Big Sandy | upskiling | big-sandy |
| Fair Chance Academy (FCA) | The Kentucky Chamber Foundation’s Workforce Recovery Program launched the first-ever Fair Chance Academy in May 2022. This academy provides businesses with training and experiences to adopt a fair chance workplace that successfully provides transformational employment. One hundred Kentuckians have participated in the initial four cohorts of companies to be certified as fair chance. The academy has hosted eight health care employers to date. | Upskiling | Statewide | upskiling | statewide |
| Future Healthcare Professionals | Future Healthcare Professionals (FHP) is a free program that introduces high school students to health care. Programs occur in the evening at local hospitals, community centers, libraries, and schools. The program introduces students to various health care careers through studying anatomy and physiology, hands-on activities, service projects, guest speakers, and field trips. Past activities include: CPR/first aid certification, suturing lessons, solving a medical forensics case, learning to intubate, and measuring vitals. | High School | Barren River | high-school | barren-river |
| Future Physicians Program | Through Future Physicians, Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital provides college students an in-depth look into a medical career. This summer program allows undergraduate pre-medicine students to shadow physicians and advanced practice clinicians for a well-rounded experience. Participants are expected to gain over 150 hours of shadowing experience and earn a $1,000 stipend upon program completion. | Post-secondary | Purchase | post-secondary | purchase |
| GenAI Summit Series | Led by the Health Careers Collaborative of Greater Louisville (HCCGL), Baptist Health Louisville, Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC), Thumbprint Consulting, the Kentucky Hospital Association, and Kentucky Chamber Foundation worked together to plan a summit on GenAI in health care. This summit, held on February 29, 2024, had nearly 50 attendees. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and as a result, the second HCCGL Workforce Summit is set for Thursday, September 12, 2024. | Post-secondary | Kentuckiana Works | post-secondary | kentuckiana-works |
| Greater Louisville Collaborative | The Greater Louisville Collaborative, hosted by the Kentucky Chamber Foundation, launched in March 2024. The group of hospital employers is interested in gaining a better overall understanding of the supply and demand of the health care workforce in the region before setting priorities. | Post-secondary | Kentuckiana Works | post-secondary | kentuckiana-works |
| Health Career Explorers | Health Career Explorers is a program for high school students interested in learning more about different health professions in Hardin County. Throughout the program, students visit different departments at Baptist Health Hardin, learn about each department, and talk with health professionals. In some departments, students will get to try simulated medical procedures. | High School | Lincoln Trail | high-school | lincoln-trail |
| Healthcare Occupation Students of America (HOSA) | Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) is an organization that develops leadership and technical skill competencies for secondary and post-secondary students. Its mission is to enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality health care by providing opportunities for the knowledge, skill, and leadership development of all health science education students, helping them meet the needs of the health care community. | High School | Statewide | high-school | statewide |
| Healthcare Pathways Partnership Program (H3P) | The Health Career Pathway Partnership Program (H3P) through Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP) helps unemployed and underemployed individuals in the region take advantage of a nursing career and help employees progress in their career while mentoring and encouraging upward mobility. | Upskiling | Big Sandy | upskiling | big-sandy |
| HealthForce Kentucky | HealthForce Kentucky is an effort to inspire careers in health care by providing broader access to the highest levels of instruction and technology. This unique collaboration involves nine colleges and universities and numerous school districts across 16 counties in western Kentucky. | Post-secondary | Green River | post-secondary | green-river |
| High School Rural Scholars | The High School Rural Scholars Program participants observe health care services. Students divide their time between shadowing health care professionals in their home counties and preparing for college entrance exams. The University of Louisville Trover Campus serves as the program’s central support site. | High School | Pennyrile | high-school | pennyrile |
| Jobs for Kentucky Graduates (JAG) | Jobs for Kentucky Graduates (JAG KY) guides students at participating high schools in career development, job attainment, retention, leadership, financial literacy, and numerous other life skills. Students are recruited by their guidance counselor or other school faculty/administrators. | High School | Statewide | high-school | statewide |
| Kentucky HealthCorps | The Kentucky HealthCorps program provides funding and resources for high school students to work part-time in non-profit hospitals and long-term care facilities in various roles, including as state registered nurse aides. TPM®️ project managers are working to connect interested and eligible hospitals to local high school health care pathways through this program, which is a partnership between AmeriCorps and Family Scholar House. | High School | Statewide | high-school | statewide |
| King’s Daughters Medical Center Scholars Program | King’s Daughters Health Foundation awards annual college scholarships to area students pursuing college degrees in health care. | High School | FIVCO | high-school | fivco |
| Letters from Home | The Letters from Home initiative keeps pre-health care profession students connected to the Purchase region. The program fosters ongoing communication and support for medical students with representatives from regional hospitals and the Purchase Area Health Education Center (AHEC) team. The hope is to increase the potential of medical students returning home to practice medicine in the future. | Post-secondary | Purchase | post-secondary | purchase |
| Medical Observation Opportunity Network (M.O.O.N.) Program | The M.O.O.N (Medical Observation Opportunity Network) Program exposes high school students to physician and advanced practice provider career options through observing various practitioners in the office setting, inpatient/outpatient areas, and operating room. Hands-on activities, panel discussions, and other learning experiences accompany these observations. | High School | Northern Kentucky | high-school | northern-kentucky |
| Military Hiring Academy (MHA) | The Kentucky Chamber Foundation’s Military Hiring Academy aims to provide businesses with training and experiences to find, hire, and retain military talent (veterans, service members leaving the military, and military spouses). This initiative bridges the gap between businesses’ need for employees and those in the military community looking for meaningful civilian employment. The academy also helps companies discover and discern what support services are available and appropriate for their hiring and retention needs. One goal of many is to better connect transitioning military members with health care experience to new careers and opportunities with Kentucky health care facilities. | Upskiling | Statewide | upskiling | statewide |
| My Healthcare Investigation Book | The My Healthcare Investigation Book includes two phases in preparation for the Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) Inspires Healthcare Project Fair, held at the PMC Workforce Innovation Center. Regional fourth and fifth-grade teachers are invited to a workshop to discuss the PMC Inspires Healthcare Project Fair. Teachers are provided lessons aligned with Kentucky Core Content guidelines to instruct students on various health care careers. The support for teachers will help guide students through developing projects for the fair. Then, students are invited to the PMC Inspires Healthcare Project Fair with professional judges and an awards ceremony for the winning students. | K-8 | Big Sandy | k-8 | big-sandy |
| Nursing Educator Institute (NEI) | Conversations with hospitals have uncovered that more clinical/nursing program faculty/instructors must be available across the state. The health care industry can work to increase the pipeline into programs. However, there needs to be more instructors/faculty to teach them. In partnership with the Health Careers Collaborative of Greater Louisville (HCCGL) and CEO Council (CEOc), partners are exploring the potential of a pilot training program for instructors/faculty in the Louisville area. The focus includes both current nurses who are eligible, as well as bringing nurses such as retirees back to the workforce in these roles. | Post-secondary | Kentuckiana Works | post-secondary | kentuckiana-works |
| Pathway Pioneers | Through the partnership between the Kentucky Chamber Foundation and the Kentucky Hospital Association, the TPM® project team hosted two virtual Pathway Pioneer events to highlight careers and employers to high school students statewide. One event highlighted a career pathway in nursing, and another highlighted career pathways in allied health. | High School | Statewide | high-school | statewide |
| Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) Medical Academy | The Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) Medical Academy is a specialized program that allows eighth grade students and first-year high school students to apply for a spot to shadow different medical professionals on the Pikeville campus. The program recently kicked off with its first 25-student cohort, who visited Pikeville Medical Center in May 2024 for hands-on healthcare experience. | K-8 | Big Sandy | k-8 | big-sandy |
| Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) Project HEART (Healthcare Employment Around Regional Training) | The Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) Project HEART (Healthcare Employment Around Regional Training) initiative started four years ago to combat eastern Kentucky’s nursing staffing shortage. Project HEART bridges many entities that have combined forces to make it easier than ever for someone to train for a career in the health care industry. With millions in financial resources pledged by the dozens of Project HEART collaborators, hundreds of students have already been provided the opportunity to receive financially assisted training and education for sustainable, quality careers in eastern Kentucky. | Post-secondary | Big Sandy | post-secondary | big-sandy |
| Prematriculation Program | The summer University of Louisville Trover Campus Prematriculation Program is designed to expose students to academic, clinical, and community medicine over three weeks before starting their first year of medical school. | Post-secondary | Pennyrile | post-secondary | pennyrile |
| Purchase Area Health Education Center (AHEC) | The Purchase Area Health Education Center (AHEC) provides college students support services to better prepare undergraduate students for health care careers with job shadowing assistance, non-academic advising, personal statement reviews, interview preparation for medical school or graduate programs, and testing preparation (MCAT, GRE, etc.). | Post-secondary | Purchase | post-secondary | purchase |
| Rural Health Scholars | Rural Health Scholars (RHS) is a four-week program that the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) hosts each summer for undergraduate students in any pre-professional tracks (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physical therapy, etc.). RHS immerses pre-professional students in rural Kentucky medicine by utilizing unique experiences to broaden their understanding of the limitations, advantages, and community resources available to educate, prevent, and treat a rural patient population. The program also provides a $950 stipend for participants. | Post-secondary | Barren River | post-secondary | barren-river |
| Rural Scholars | Rural Scholars is a four-week summer program sponsored by Purchase Area Health Education Center (AHEC) to introduce rural students to the need for health and medical professionals. Scholars will be exposed to community and population-based health issues within rural communities. Priority is given to the counties in the Purchase Region. Scholars are chosen based on their interest in rural health care. | Post-secondary | Purchase | post-secondary | purchase |
| South Central Area Health Education Center (AHEC) | South Central Area Health Education Center (AHEC) helps coordinate student clinical rotations by connecting them with quality preceptors and finding housing options for away rotations. | Post-secondary | Barren River | post-secondary | barren-river |
| South Central Area Health Education Center (AHEC) | The South Central Area Health Education Center (AHEC) coordinates various opportunities for continuing education for health professionals. The schedule of events is available on their website. | Upskiling | Barren River | upskiling | barren-river |
| South Central Collaborative | The South Central TPM® Collaborative, hosted by the Kentucky Chamber Foundation, comprises hospitals in the Barren River, Lake Cumberland, and Lincoln Trail Area Development Districts. | Barren River | barren-river | ||
| South Central Kentucky (SCK) Launch | South Central Kentucky (SCK) Launch is an annual opportunity for eighth graders in Warren and surrounding counties to learn about local career opportunities, including many in health care. | K-8 | Barren River | k-8 | barren-river |
| St. Claire Academic-Practice Scholarship Program | The St. Claire Academic-Practice Scholarship Program aims to remove economic barriers to education by providing students with access to scholarship dollars that will help close the gap between their cost of attendance and other forms of financial aid. Through a partnership between St. Claire Healthcare and Maysville Community and Technical College (MCTC), $150,000 in scholarships are available to MCTC students. | High School | Gateway | high-school | gateway |
| The Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Scholars Program | The Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Scholars is a national program expanding education for nursing or health care-related students. The program promotes interdisciplinary work with 40 hours of didactic and 40 hours of experiential learning for the last two years of a health care degree or certificate program. | Post-secondary | Statewide | post-secondary | statewide |
| University of Kentucky College of Nursing & UK Healthcare Enterprise Student Nurse Academic Practicum (SNAP) | University of Kentucky College of Nursing & UK HealthCare Enterprise Student Nurse Academic Practicum (SNAP) students engage in a paid clinical internship that provides the opportunity to be a member of the health care team while working under the supervision of a registered nurse preceptor. This credit-bearing nursing course offers an extended opportunity for students to apply what they have learned thus far in their nursing program. Students assume the responsibilities of a registered nurse under the guidance of nurse preceptors and faculty and complete 300 clinical hours during the program. | Post-secondary | Bluegrass | post-secondary | bluegrass |
| University of Pikeville (UPIKE) and Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) Rural Health Nursing Fellowship | The University of Pikeville (UPIKE) and Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) Rural Health Nursing Fellowship program is an educational opportunity offered by UPIKE’s Elliott School of Nursing and Pikeville Medical Center. Students eager to pursue a career in nursing can earn an associate degree in nursing from UPIKE and potentially graduate debt-free by committing to work for PMC upon becoming a licensed registered nurse. | Post-secondary | Big Sandy | post-secondary | big-sandy |
| Warren County Career Shadowing | Warren County Career Shadowing, through South Central Kentucky Launch (SCK Launch), allows small groups of high school students to observe professionals on the job and experience “a day in the life” of a business environment to gain more profound knowledge about existing careers, career pathways, and the essential skills needed for success in the workplace. Shadowing occurs during the school day at a local business. | High School | Barren River | high-school | barren-river |
| West Area Health Education Center (AHEC) | The West Area Health Education Center (AHEC) team annually offers continuing education courses for practicing health professionals. The staff ensures accreditation and provides necessary documentation. | Upskiling | Pennyrile | upskiling | pennyrile |
| West Area Health Education Center (AHEC) | Through the West Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Health Careers Program, students are free to prepare for the American College Testing (ACT) exam and explore health careers. The staff at West AHEC leads students in virtual and hands-on activities to explore different health care disciplines and shadowing opportunities. | High School | Pennyrile | high-school | pennyrile |
| West Area Health Education Center (AHEC) | The West Area Health Education Center (AHEC) nursing pipeline program supports students in health career programs services to persist and matriculate into the regional workforce. Support services include tutoring and NCLEX preparation. | Post-secondary | Pennyrile | post-secondary | pennyrile |
| Western Kentucky Collaborative | The Western Kentucky Collaborative, hosted by the Kentucky Chamber Foundation, includes HR directors from across the region who come together to address workforce needs. The collaborative has explored K-12 outreach and upskilling opportunities. Further exploration continues to establish projects among all providers. | Upskiling | Pennyrile | upskiling | pennyrile |
| When I Grow Up | The Pikeville Medical Center Workforce Development team, along with “Buddy Bear,” the mascot of the Mettu Children’s Hospital at Pikeville Medical Center (PMC), will visit local elementary schools to spark an interest in health care careers at a young age through the program, “When I Grow Up.” | K-8 | Big Sandy | k-8 | big-sandy |
