Mercer, an American consulting firm founded in 1945, forecasts a shortage of more than 400,000 home health aids and 29,400 nurse practitioners by 2025. Their forecasts show shortages in other healthcare professions as well. In July of 2022, U.S. News and World Report wrote “A growing shortage of healthcare workers is being called the nation’s top patient safety concern.” Hospitals and other healthcare facilities were already experiencing this talent crisis when COVID-19 hit and made things worse. At Phillips Charitable Foundation, we wanted to do our small part to help.
The growing challenges faced by the healthcare industry influenced many of our 2022 grant decisions. In addition to the $500,000 grant awarded to Family House of Pittsburgh, we also awarded several other healthcare related grants. These grants went to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Caroline Friess Center in Baltimore, and a high school science lab at Holy Trinity in New York. While each of the funded programs are quite different, they all play a part in training current and future healthcare workers.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pittsburgh, PA
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is a world-renowned healthcare provider operating 40 hospitals, 800 doctors’ offices and outpatient centers, and has 92,000 employees. The ongoing nationwide shortage of nurses has greatly impacted UPMC as it has with other hospitals across the country.
While UPMC has been successful at bringing on some new talent, each new nurse needs guidance and training as they transition to practice. This of course takes time and resources. When UPMC Shadyside proposed a new simulation lab and training program for novice nurses, Phillips Charitable Foundation was excited to fund the start-up. We awarded a $282,861 grant for this project.
The goal of the new simulation-enhanced education and training is for nurses to gain increased confidence and competency in clinical skills and judgment that will ultimately result in improved patient safety and outcomes. In short, new nurses have a safe simulation environment to practice and build skills as they prepare for the transition to clinical practice in the Emergency Department.
Caroline Friess Center
Baltimore, MD
The Caroline Friess Center in Baltimore educates and prepare women to become knowledgeable, skilled, and compassionate healthcare professionals and to practice as certified nursing assistants (CNA) and pharmacy technicians (PT). Their 15-week program provides a holistic approach to education and individualized instruction in a supportive community. A $25,000 grant was awarded to support their Certified Nursing Assistant program.
Being one of the only tuition-free CNA and PT training programs in Baltimore makes their efforts particularly important. They also provide a host of wrap-around services, helping trainees with whatever is needed to be able to learn, thrive, and be successful in the program. The wrap-around services remove many obstacles that get in the way for the women who just want to complete their training while also taking care of their family. With the training and guidance received by Caroline Center, women can begin a family sustaining career track in an industry with enormous needs.
Holy Trinity High School
Hicksville, NY
The mission of Holy Trinity Catholic High School is to educate the whole person: mind, heart, soul, and body, and to motivate all students in the pursuit of truth and academic excellence, preparing them for future educational opportunities and service to the Church and to the world.
A $20,000 grant was awarded to Holy Trinity to complete the funding needed for the purchase and installation of a high-tech anatomy table. The Anatomage Anatomy Table simulates living anatomy and kinetic motions on life-size digital bodies. It brings the science behind human bodies to life so it can be understood, explained, and applied to further medical education and training. This makes biology class much more interesting for students!
Once the anatomy table and other science lab upgrades were made, Holy Trinity partnered with The Catholic Health Network to create the Catholic Health Center for Medicine and Research at the High School. This provides students the opportunity to work with with state-of-the-art STEM equipment and have direct interaction with medical professionals within the Catholic Health network.
The world needs more doctors, nurses, and scientists. Our hope is that this anatomy table will spark those career interests in many students in years to come. This is our second grant to Holy Trinity.
Congratulations to each of these 2022 grantees.
