According to the Colorado Health Foundation, health-care and wellness jobs in Colorado grew by more than 22 percent during the past five years, driving the state’s economy even as other industries were mired in recession.

The Northern Colorado Health Sector Partnership is celebrating this success and more. The group of more than 30 northern Colorado health-care entities and 10 public partners, including Front Range Community College, established the Health Sector Partnership in 2013 to address common issues in the industry.

The partnership has identified four key areas for collaboration

  • Education of the public on health care
  • Coordination of a larger behavioral health solution for the two-county area
  • Increasing workforce skills relative to diversity awareness
  • Changing state regulations relative to PASSR (Preadmission Screening and Resident Review)

The partnership has private and public partners working together to address the key areas.

Yvonne Myers, health systems director for Columbine Health Systems, is serving as the private industry coordinator for the partnership.

“The partnership is a tremendous way for health-care providers in Northern Colorado to come together to work on areas where we found mutual opportunities for economic and workforce growth,” Myers said. “Working together with our partners in education and the public sector ensures successful outcomes.”

The partnership has regular meetings of stakeholders to work to address the areas of collaboration.

“Building on needs and challenges identified in the four key focus areas: work groups composed of industry, workforce and education partners are beginning to work collectively to identify and impact current and projected needs that have implications specific to our region,” said Laurie Hamit, MS, RN, health careers program manager and career transition program manager for Banner Health.

And the partnership is equally important to the education system.

“The Northern Colorado Healthcare Partnership has been a great way for education to connect to the health-care organizations and to find out how best to educate students for this important industry,” said Lynn Vosler, FRCC director of workforce development.

FRCC’s Marty Bachman, chair of the Nursing Program, and Shashi Unnithan, dean of instruction, serve on the partnership’s Workforce Committee, and Vosler serves on the Convener Team.

Information about corporate training in health care field through FRCC can be found at http://www.frontrange.edu/programs-and-courses/corporate-training.

Companies involved in the partnership include: Associates in Family Medicine, Banner Health, Brookdale Senior Living, Colorado Choice Health Plans, Columbine Health Systems, Emergency Physicians of the Rockies, Golden Peaks Care and Rehabilitation Center, Hearing Rehab Center, Home Instead Senior Care, Hospice of Northern Colorado, and Kaiser Permanente.

Also, McKee Medical Center, Medical Center of the Rockies, Mountain Wellness LLC, Northern Colorado Medical Center, Northern Colorado Rehab Center, North Range Behavioral Health, Pathways Hospice, Poudre Valley Hospital, Rocky Mountain Family Physicians and Touchstone Health Partners.

In addition to FRCC public partners include: Aims Community College, City of Fort Collins, Colorado Workforce Development Council, Employment Services of Weld County, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, Larimer County Workforce Center, Longmont/Boulder CO Workforce, NCEDC and Upstate Northern CO.


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About Front Range Community College

FRCC offers nearly 100 degree and certificate programs from locations in Boulder County, Larimer County, Westminster, and Brighton, and online.

FRCC is a member of the Colorado Community College System, the state’s largest system of higher education. CCCS serves more than 162,000 students annually. The system oversees career and academic programs in the 13 state community colleges and career and technical programs in more than 160 school districts and six other post-secondary institutions.

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