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June 30, 2022

FORT BRAGG, CA — This fall, Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation (MCHFoundation) is partnering with Sherwood Oaks Health Center and Adventist Health Mendocino Coast to launch the community’s first collaborative Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Course.

Based on the 2017 National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, California has one of the highest nursing deficits in the country—a shortfall only amplified in rural regions like Mendocino County.

The Pacific Coast Collaborative CNA Course unites three of our community’s major healthcare organizations to address the local nursing shortage and offer an entry point to the healthcare workforce close to home. This pilot will graduate up to 25 new CNAs annually, provide experiential training within local healthcare organizations, and offer a model for future educational partnerships.

As program partners, Sherwood Oaks Health Center and Adventist Health Mendocino Coast will share the 100 hours of required clinical skills training, preceptorship, and testing, simultaneously increasing the recruitment of both facilities. MCHFoundation will provide financial support to purchase the curriculum and learning technology such as tablets and internet access, offer administrative support, and fund scholarships for CNA students.

CNAs facilitate up to 90% of direct patient care in residential facilities and support the entire care team in clinical and hospital settings. Therefore, a CNA course is a critical first step in enriching local offerings for a pathway into healthcare work.

Before the Pacific Coast Collaborative CNA Course, the closest CNA course available to our community was almost 60 miles away in Ukiah. This presented an enormous barrier for those with neither the time nor the resources to attend classes so far out of town. This course can become a model for local certification in the medical field with MCHFoundation providing ongoing financial aid and higher education scholarships for CNAs who wish to continue their career pathway into nursing.

At the Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation, our work to recruit, retain, and advocate for local nurses never stops. Our All In For Nurses program addresses the local nursing shortage by providing for the immediate and long-term needs of coastal caregivers and students—with scholarship awards, financial support, appreciation events, and educational programs. In addition to the Pacific Coast Collaborative CNA pilot, our program support includes partnerships with Mendocino College to offer more nursing prerequisite courses on the coast and with the hospital to coordinate internships for local students.

To learn more, please reach out to Lia Holbrook, Director of Community Initiatives, at [email protected].