May 27, 2005

Helping employees realize their dreams

Carlos Vasco, an employee in MGH Patient Transportation, is college-educated and worked as an engineer in his native Colombia. When he came to America in 2002, he spoke so little English that his interview with patient transport supervisor Krys Klincewicz was conducted through an interpreter. With Klincewicz's support, Vasco currently is enrolled in a pre-college English reading and writing class through the Partners in Career and Workforce Development (PCWD) program, improving his fluency and preparing to advance his career. Thanks to the PCWD program and his own hard work, Vasco is moving toward his American dream — applying to a Boston-area graduate program to earn his MBA with a concentration in health care administration.

The PCWD program was established in December 2003 through a grant to create health care career opportunities for low-income Boston residents and to address an urgent need for skilled and educated health care professionals in nursing, radiology technology and surgical technology. Since its inception, some 200 employees at the MGH, BWH and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital have benefited from the array of courses and services available through the Partners-based program, and many more have taken advantage of interactive career planning tools and resources available on the PCWD website.

The PCWD program supports two major sub-programs — an incumbent worker initiative and pre-employment training. Through the incumbent worker initiative, the PCWD offers educational courses and programs developed in collaboration with community colleges and community-based workforce development organizations and provides career coaching and planning for workers looking to transition into health care careers. Pre-employment training is offered four times a year through a five-week program that provides health-care-focused, job readiness training for community residents who may be suitably matched to entry-level openings at Partners institutions.

Lisa Kling, communication and information manager of PCWD, says the two programs are an important part of Partners' efforts to promote higher education and career advancement as well as fulfill the workforce needs of all Partners hospitals. Managers experience the satisfaction of serving as Workforce Development champions for their employees, and employees gain access to opportunities they might not have had previously. "We've learned that the partnership between the employees and their supervisors is critical to retention, advancement, job satisfaction and performance," Kling says.

The PCWD program hopes to reach 35 additional MGH employees in 2005. Employees in all areas of the hospital are eligible and must be referred by their supervisor or manager. For more information, contact the MGH Training and Workforce Development Office at (617) 726-2230 or visit the PCWD website at www.partners.org/pcwd.