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March 28, 2023

Apprenticeship program provides frontline staff with career growth paths

McKnights Senior Living

With a boost from a grant program initiated by Argentum, one senior living provider is using apprenticeships to recruit and retain frontline staff who previously had no career growth paths.

Since launching its program last spring, Naperville, IL-based Charter Senior Living has promoted 175 employees at 45 communities to lead caregivers, lead medical technicians and director positions within the company through Argentum’s Healthcare Apprenticeship Expand Program.

HAEP was initiated through Argentum as part of a $6 million US Department of Labor grant to train apprentices in key senior living and allied health occupations. Argentum was one of 28 public-private partnerships to receive a collective $100 million. The association has a goal of enrolling and supporting more than 7,200 apprentices by February 2024.

The HAEP program addresses the skills gap in healthcare and healthcare IT occupations by expanding apprenticeships for a variety of positions, including certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and rehabilitation technicians. It also created new apprenticeship programs for healthcare leadership positions, which Charter Senior Living adopted.

“As our commitment to our employees, we wanted to provide an opportunity for career growth,” President and Chief Operating Officer Jayne Sallerson told McKnight’s Senior Living. “These are line staff employees who have never really been given an opportunity to grow their careers.”

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