Shortly after opening the doors of the Don Tomas Health Sciences Center back in 2021, Southwestern Community College developed a strategy for not only filling the area’s tremendous healthcare workforce needs – but also providing a promising future for soon-to-be high school graduates.
Dubbed Project SHIFT (SCC Health Initiative For Teens), the program supports area high school students by providing career exploration and advising. Project SHIFT aims to tackle the region’s healthcare workforce shortages by uniting area high schools, healthcare providers and nonprofit agencies.
Dogwood Health Trust recognized the potential and provided funding to launch Project SHIFT in 2023, and the results speak for themselves. More than 350 students participated in Project SHIFT within its first two years, and nearly all of SCC’s 17 Health Sciences programs enjoyed a surge in applications and enrollment.
That level of success prompted Dogwood Health Trust to fund a two-year extension in the form of a $500,000 Collaboration and Innovation grant. In addition to continuing Project SHIFT’s collaborative work with our area high schools, the program is taking on a new collaborative and innovative project in partnership with NC Health Talent Alliance to further our shared mission of filling critical workforce gaps in healthcare within WNC.
“We are extremely grateful for Dogwood Health Trust’s continued investment in Project SHIFT,” said Dr. Don Tomas, SCC president. “This effort is essential for building a sustainable healthcare workforce pipeline that will benefit all of Western North Carolina.”
According to a recent report from the NC Center on the Workforce for Health, one in eight Registered Nurse positions and one in five Certified Nursing Assistant positions are unfilled in this state. Many other healthcare professions are experiencing similar workforce shortages, which severely strain existing medical staff and compromise the quality of care across the region.
The Project SHIFT model aims to provide a sustainable solution to the workforce issue by identifying future healthcare professionals while they’re still in high school. These students gain intensive exposure to healthcare fields through events, workshops, field trips, career fairs internships and coaching.
“When students come here and see our facilities and the quality of our equipment, they are always saying: ‘I didn’t know Southwestern had so many different healthcare career options,’” said Pamela Judson, SCC’s Director of Pre-Health Sciences. “It opens their eyes, and they realize they can have lifelong and fulfilling careers without having to leave this region that they love so much.”
As part of the grant extension, SCC will collaborate with the NC Talent Alliance and Mountain Area Health Education Center with the goal of expanding and possibly replicating the Project SHIFT model to reach beyond SCC’s service area to other parts of Western North Carolina.
For more information about Project SHIFT, contact Judson at 828.339.4198 or pjudson@SouthwesternCC.edu.
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ABOUT SOUTHWESTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE …
For more than 60 years, Southwestern Community College has served Jackson, Macon, Swain Counties, and the Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina by providing a wide range of educational options for residents in all stages of life. SCC has been ranked among the nation’s Top 10 community colleges six times in the last 15 years – including a No. 1 ranking in BestColleges.com’s listing of the “Best Community Colleges & Trade Schools of 2020.”Through a supportive learning environment, Southwestern offers more than 40 degree programs (including more than 90 credentialing options, 28 of which are offered online) in Health Sciences, Arts and Sciences/College Transfer and Career Technologies. A variety of community resources - including the Small Business Center, Workforce Continuing Education and Career Services - are also available.
ABOUT DOGWOOD HEALTH TRUST
Dogwood Health Trust is a private foundation based in Asheville, North Carolina with the sole purpose of dramatically improving the health and wellbeing of all people and communities of 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina. Dogwood Health Trust focuses on innovative and equitable ways to address the many factors that contribute to overall health and wellbeing. With a focus on housing, education, economic opportunity and health and wellness, Dogwood Health Trust works to create a Western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all, no exceptions. To learn more, please visit www.dht.org.
