By Mark Moran - Producer-Editor, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - Montana has partnered with Blackfeet Community College in Browning to address the critical need of frontline health-care workers in the state. The Department of Labor and Industry hopes to expand the model statewide, getting more qualified hands-on Certified Nursing Assistants caring for patients -- in a matter of weeks. Comments from John Caldwell, engagement strategist, Montana Department of Labor and Industry.
Click on the image above for the audio. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports there are about 220,200 openings for nursing assistants and orderlies each year over the course of a decade. (Adobe Stock)
The state partnered with Blackfeet Indian Community College to train CNAs.
Mark Moran
July 3, 2023 - Facing a critical shortage of frontline healthcare workers, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry has partnered with the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning to graduate new Certified Nursing Assistants.
Through the program, 22 CNA students underwent an intensive, two-week course designed to put them in the workforce right away, helping nurses and offering patient care, while addressing a debilitating shortage of critical, hands-on patient care providers.
John Caldwell, engagement strategist for the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, said multiple healthcare providers in Browning will benefit, and the new CNA's will make an especially big difference among Browning's Native American population.
"There are multiple organizations in the Browning area that use Certified Nursing Assistants," Caldwell explained. "They are all short of staff there. This most certainly will help alleviate some of the pressure of the current staff that's there, and also be able to just offer better service to the Indigenous community in Browning."
Caldwell noted the intensive CNA training program, which was held in partnership with Blackfeet Community College, will serve as a statewide model to train more health care providers quickly.
Caldwell will push for the state to ramp up the program, attempting to avoid closing more healthcare facilities, which he emphasized has been an especially critical problem in rural areas.
"Looking back at the reasons that the health care facilities have closed in Montana ... most of the reasons have been due to workforce issues or a lack of workforce," Caldwell pointed out. "The lack of Certified Nursing Assistants is a major reason why facilities are having a hard time staying open in the state of Montana."
The Blackfeet Reservation, headquartered in Browning, is the third-largest reservation in Montana encompassing approximately 1.5 million acres.
