Engaging a Diverse NextGen of Caregivers

Patient demographics are shifting. By recruiting a more diverse workforce, Providence can offer culturally appropriate patient care and better perform toward our goal of eliminating health disparities.

As one of the largest health providers in the country, Providence has long recognized shifting demographics throughout our footprint, and as a result, the changing demographics of patients receiving care—and of prospective employees.

The benefits of a diverse workforce include a more inclusive environment, culturally appropriate patient care, more innovative problem-solving, improved employee retention and better performance towards goals of eliminating health disparities and increasing population health.

We are pursuing innovative ways to transform health care by keeping people healthy, making our services more convenient, accessible, and affordable for all—and by offering a diverse workforce so people and communities can benefit from the best health care model for the future, today.

Given the current workforce shortage—and prediction that health care will be the fastest growing employment sector through 2030*—we see an opportunity to increase the diversity of our caregivers.

The Sisters of Providence promised to embrace all people and believed in the inherent value of every person. Accordingly, we recognize the value of training a diverse workforce to provide high quality care to our increasingly diverse patient population.

It is estimated that from now until 2030, health care will be the fastest growing employment sector with an anticipated 16% job growth.*

In order to attract caregivers from diverse backgrounds, Providence Ready, established in 2016 to engage a next-generation of health care staff, is looking for funding to create pathways for careers within Providence.

Providence Ready engages a next generation of health care workers who represent the diverse communities served throughout our care footprint. 

Providence Ready encourages career seekers to explore the many opportunities that exist within health care and provides experiential opportunities such as paid internships and innovative career exploration using experiential learning.

With a specific emphasis to introduce first generation and BBIPOC college students and young professionals to careers in health care, its mission is for career seekers to make better-informed decisions and to create pathways for careers within Providence.

Providence Ready achieves this in three ways:

1. Paid internships for college seniors and graduate students
   
   
2. Paid internships for high school students
   
   
3. Immersive learning experiences

Providence Ready looks to expand paid internships for college seniors and graduate students—and pilot a program for high school seniors.

Providence Ready’s original internship program was created in 2016 for first generation and BBIPOC college seniors and graduate students in Providence’s Oregon region. Interns work an average 20 hours per week and are paid $25/hour.

To date,

75% identify as first-generation college students

70% identify as BBIPOC

437 have taken positions in non-clinical and administrative roles throughout Oregon

35% of interns have been hired permanently by Providence

With you, we can scale this internship program to new communities throughout Providence’s locations, including Alaska, Washington, Montana, California, New Mexico and Texas—and create a pilot project to expand to high school seniors during school breaks.

Providence Ready is developing augmented and virtual reality immersive learning experiences within the health care setting.

An important facet of retaining talented and diverse staff who come through our internship program (or elsewhere) is helping them understand and become acclimated to the health care environment. During the pandemic, this has become increasingly difficult to achieve.

In response, learning and development leaders have envisioned a working environment where prospective staff and current caregivers can learn, practice and apply new skills from anywhere, at any time—and immersive learning modules are currently being developed to offer augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) experiences within the health care setting.

With you, we can develop virtual learning experiences that place prospective caregivers into a virtual hospital or clinical environment through AR/VR headsets, giving them access to structured learning modules to develop knowledge of the environment and skill-build.

Together, we can grow and diversity Providence’s workforce to provide the highest-quality, culturally appropriate health care for everyone—and better perform toward our goal of eliminating health disparities.

We anticipate the total costs of these Providence Ready initiatives to be just over $1 million.

To explore the giving opportunity that is right for you, please contact

Laurie Kelley, Chief Philanthropy Officer, at Laurie.Kelley@Providence.org
Lindsey Oldridge, Director Philanthropy, at Lindsey.Oldridge@Providence.org
Andrew Tweedie, Director Corporate Partnerships, at Andrew.Tweedie@Providence.org

*Bureau of Labor Statistics