State grant will allow WHC to train new CNAs, nurses

Western Home Communities will use a $1.34 million grant from Iowa Workforce Development to educate up to 135 new certified nurse aides (CNAs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) over three years.

Western Home Communities received the state’s third-largest award in the second round of Iowa Health Careers Registered Apprenticeship grants, designed to help train and expand the health care workforce.

“We’re already seeing this large population of baby boomers coming to us for housing and services, and we’ve got to have more trained employees to meet the demand,” explains CEO Kris Hansen. “This grant is really a win-win for us and people who want to start their nursing careers.”

The state awarded 21 projects a total of $13.5 million dollars to create nearly 1,500 apprenticeships. Recipients include public school districts, community colleges, universities, hospitals and senior living providers.

“It’s going to take all of us being innovative and working together to develop the health care workforce Iowa needs, so state funding is important,” Hansen says. “We view it as a way to further our efforts to be an educational partner in the community.”

Western Home Communities has worked with Cedar Falls High School and its Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) for several years to train CNAs and is already planning a partnership with the Waterloo Career Center. Through the apprenticeship program, more high schools will be able to offer their students similar opportunities.

For CNAs who want to become a nurse, the apprenticeship program will create a new learn and earn option for becoming an LPN.

Chief Clinical Officer Wendy Ager, RN, BSN, knows that many CNAs want to pursue further education but can’t afford to stop working. The apprenticeships will remove that financial barrier.

“This is exciting because providing the best care to residents is integral to how we operate as an organization,” she says. “That’s why we’ve been training CNAs in-house for several years now, and this grant lets us expand that to the next level.”

Practical, hands-on lab training and on-the-job experience will be offered on-site at Western Home Communities, while AxisU will develop an online learning curriculum component.

Now that the grant has been awarded, Western Home Communities will finalize the program components and hopes to start awarding apprenticeships later this year.

Cedar Falls CAPS students stop for a photo at Martin Suites during early morning clinicals in April.