Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Responding to critical workforce needs

"The college's responsiveness and ability to adjust curricula to meet the needs of the local employee population and our changing employment needs have helped to make this project an effective partnership."

- Denny DeNarvaez, President, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Client: Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Industry: The largest not-for-profit hospital in the Twin Cities area
Number of employees: 5,200

The challenge:
Abbot Northwestern Hospital urgently needed to help alleviate its severe shortage of health care workers.

The solution:
Minneapolis Community and Technical College teamed up with three area hospitals to train current and potential hospital employees. Training is offered at an equipped facility adjacent to Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis Children's Hospital and Hennepin County Medical Center.

"We chose to work with Minneapolis Community and Technical College because we knew the college's curriculum would help us fill job vacancies in a tight labor market and because of their close connection to this community and its local residents," said Eric Eoloff, director of public affairs and facility planning for Abbott Northwestern Hospital. "The college's leadership and staff do effective outreach in the community, and their commitment to work with us to meet our recruitment goals has been unwavering."

The college offers training to prepare students to become nursing assistants, phlebotomists, insurance coders, medical transcriptionists, surgery and radiology technicians, and clerical support assistants. Additional courses including prerequisites to the college's nursing program and English-as-a-Second Language classes are also offered.

"We couldn't have done this without the support of the Minneapolis Community and Technical College," said Denny DeNarvaez, president Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

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