Nine TBR colleges & system office awarded grants to increase healthcare career training

Nine Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) community and technical colleges and the TBR system office have been awarded grants to increase healthcare career training opportunities that will expand access to healthcare in rural communities.

The funding awards to the TBR colleges are among grants totaling $10.7 million to 38 institutions and organizations statewide announced recently by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD). The grants are funded through the state’s Rural Healthcare Initiative, which aims to expand the state’s healthcare workforce by leveraging existing training programs and increasing apprenticeship opportunities in health-related professions.

The TBR institutions and the counties they will serve with the grant funding are:

• Cleveland State Community College – Bradley, Meigs, Monroe, McMinn, Polk counties
• Nashville State Community College – Humphreys,  Montgomery, Stewart counties
• Northeast State Community College – Carter, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, Washington counties
• Walters State Community College – Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Sevier, Union counties
• Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) Athens – Bledsoe, Marion, Rhea, Sequatchie, Van Buren counties
• TCAT Dickson – Benton, Carroll, Cheatham, Dickson, Gibson, Henry, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Lawrence, Lewis, Maury, Montgomery, Perry, Stewart, Wayne, Weakley counties
• TCAT Jacksboro – Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Morgan, Roane, Scott counties
• TCAT Knoxville – Loudon, Union counties
• TCAT Upper Cumberland – Bledsoe, Clay, Jackson, Pickett counties
• TBR System Office – Bedford, Bledsoe, Bradley, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb, Dickson, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Macon, Marion, Marshall, Maury, McMinn, Meigs, Montgomery, Moore, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Polk, Putnam, Rhea, Robertson, Rutherford, Sequatchie, Smith, Stewart, Sumner, Tipton, Trousdale, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne, White, Williamson counties.

The TBR institutions and other grant recipients will use the funds to bolster up to 51 health-related occupations – specifically by expanding training programs, certification courses, and apprenticeships. Additionally, grant funding will help address essential ancillary costs such as transportation, childcare, and examination fees for students in the healthcare training programs – costs that often create financial barriers for students.

“Our colleges provide a broad range of training programs for anyone interested in high-demand careers in several healthcare fields and in serving their communities and fellow Tennesseans, and we’re grateful to the Department of Labor & Workforce Development for this assistance in expanding them,” said TBR Chancellor Flora W. Tydings. “Our students can earn career-ready credentials – from certifications and diplomas to associate degrees – or continue their studies at four-year universities. And through generous state and federal financial assistance programs like Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect, many attend tuition-free.”

The funding awarded the TBR system office will be leveraged to design and pilot the state’s first licensed practical nurse (LPN) and registered nurse (RN) apprenticeships in partnership with colleges and healthcare facilities and hospitals across the state. This new apprenticeship opportunity will represent a new entry point into careers in nursing, meeting a critical workforce need in our rural communities.

“Through their innovative earn-and-learn model, apprenticeships expand access to the high-quality training and education our colleges offer to Tennesseans who in the past may have had to decide between working or furthering their education,” said Zachary Adams, assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs and workforce alignment, who oversees the TBR Center for Apprenticeship.

“Our goal is to remove barriers and create opportunities for individuals to enter and excel in healthcare careers in Tennessee’s rural communities,” TDLWD Commissioner Deniece Thomas said during her department's announcement of the grants. “We know a healthy Tennessee is a vibrant Tennessee, and nowhere is that more important than in our rural communities.”

A complete list of the grantees and the counties they serve is here.