TRAINING IN RURAL HEALTH CARE. The Chippewa Valley Technical College received nearly $2 million of a $4.9 million grant award for rural health care. (Photo via CVTC's Facebook)

Eau Claire-based Chippewa Valley Technical College and three consortium partners have been awarded a $4.9 million Strengthening Community College Training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The four-year project is based on triaging and accelerating training in rural health care. CVTC's total share of the award will be about $1.8 million. The other partners in receiving the grant were Mid-State, Northwood, and Western technical colleges. The colleges worked with area workforce development boards, employers, and school districts to develop the project.

"The focus of the project is preparing rural and underserved populations for health care careers," said Shana Schmidt, CVTC director of college effectiveness.

Key activities for CVTC will be to hire a rural outreach coordinator, a part-time virtual reality and telehealth technician, and the instruction of several K12 healthcare academies, Schmidt said.

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our mission at cvtc is to help students fulfill their dreams, no matter where they live.

Sunem Beaton-garcia

cvtc president

Additionally, health care faculty from throughout the region will work to publish an open educational resource (OER) medical terminology textbook for students in several postsecondary health care programs. A full-time project director will lead the consortium's efforts. CVTC's consortium partners will be awarded about $1 million each.

Sunem Beaton-Garcia, CVTC president, said this project will allow CVTC to recruit, train, and prepare underserved individuals in health care careers to support economic mobility for individuals and the community.

"Our mission at CVTC is to help students fulfill their dreams, no matter where they live. We continually seek to identify those who need us the most," Beaton-Garcia said. "We are lucky to have robust health care in west-central Wisconsin, and these opportunities are fulfilling, well-paid positions with great opportunity for career advancement."