The 2017 HealthCare Education Open House, held on Monday, September 11, 2017, was full of information about the endless possibilities of jobs in the healthcare field. While this event was geared toward high school students and current employees, it was also open to anyone in the community who is interested in going back to school. In fact, information about this event was sent out to all high schools in Sangamon and surrounding counties. Informational flyers were also sent to the Workforce Development divisions of Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC), the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS), and Midwest Technical Institute (MTI) for on campus promotion. Last year's open house greeted over one-hundred individuals including 31 Memorial employees and over 70 high school students.
Several programs, managed by the Organization Development department, exist to assist employees who decide that further education is something they'd like to achieve. Education grants and tutition reimbursement are available for our current employees and student scholarships are made available to non-employees, who have been recommended by leadership, at several affiliates. Elle Gronewold, Organization Development Program Facilitator, notes that Memorial has affiliate agreements established with over one hundred schools spanning the United States. The purpose of both the education grant program and tuition reimbursement program is workforce planning and development. To quality for these two programs, employees must have been employed for six months with a favorable performance evaluation among other requirements. During the last cycle, 19 education grants were awarded as well as two external student scholarships.
Academic advising is also available through Organization Development. Stacey Hull, Workforce Development Consultant, meets with employees regularly to discuss options and future goals. Thirteen colleges were available providing information on their programs during the HealthCare Education Open House which was held in the M.G. Nelson Family Auditorium yesterday, from 2:00pm at 6:00pm.