At an Oct. 21 press conference, members of YNHHS’ Patient Care Associate/Patient Care Technician Registered Apprenticeship Program talked with U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Connecticut Department of Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.

YNHHS patient care associate apprentices meet with U.S., Connecticut officials 

Stanley Baxter became a little emotional during an Oct. 21 press conference with U.S. and Connecticut officials about Yale New Haven Health’s Patient Care Associate/Patient Care Technician (PCA/PCT) Registered Apprenticeship Program.

Baxter, a PCA on the Heart and Vascular Center Medical-Surgical Stepdown unit, shared the story of how a Black patient he was caring for told him that when he was hospitalized as a child, none of his care providers looked like him.

“He told me he was happy to see the way things are now,” said Baxter, who is Black. “It made me think … what if I wasn’t able to do this good work because of what I look like?”

During the press conference, U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL) Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro discussed how the apprenticeship program is expanding access to healthcare careers and helping to meet a critical need for healthcare workers. Apprenticeship program participants and leaders shared how it is enhancing participants’ skills and confidence and improving patient care.

YNHHS launched the apprenticeship program in January with help from the Connecticut DOL and a $10 million U.S. DOL State Apprenticeship Expansion, Equity, and Innovation grant. The program will train 1,250 PCAs/PCTs over the next four years. To learn more about the apprenticeship program, email [email protected].