Program seeks to create more medical workers

The latest program to help unemployed Iowans gain job skills could mean free tuition and a new job in the medical field. Virginia Wangerin is director of nursing education for Des Moines Area Community College. She says DMACC’s share is about 1.4 million, to train 144 people over two years. 96 will train to become a nurse or a CNA, Certified Nursing Assistant. Twenty-four LPN’s will upgrade skills to become a four-year RN, Registered Nurse, in rural places where they haven’t been able to commute to classes and keep working at the same time. Wangerin says the money comes from the U-S Labor Department.She says there are far too few healthcare workers to fill both highly trained and entry-level jobs in Iowa. The money will help train both unemployed Iowans and those who want to upgrade their skills to get a better job.There are some who are jobless and have no training, and also some now working who want to upgrade to higher-skill nurses, a job with lots of vacancies in Iowa. DMACC and Mercy College of Health Sciences will share the two-point-nine million dollars to train nurses and medical technicians.