Helping more students in Western North Carolina move into healthcare careers was the
focus of a recent Western North Carolina Healthcare Workforce Collaborative summit
which brought together educators, community college leaders, workforce partners, and
healthcare employers.

Held on April 27, Careers that Care 2.0: Building Regional Pathways into Healthcare
Careers brought together more than 90 participants at the Mountain Area Health
Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville. The event offered a deep dive into strategies
for strengthening healthcare workforce pathways for students across Western North
Carolina.

The summit was organized in response to findings from the NC Health Talent Alliance’s
(NC HTA) annual workforce analysis, which highlighted the need for better coordination
of career awareness efforts to grow local talent in key healthcare roles. This event
represents a key step in the Western North Carolina Healthcare Workforce
Collaborative efforts to address those gaps and build a stronger regional healthcare
workforce pipeline.

Participants were grouped by K-12 public school district, and worked through real-life
student scenarios, examining common barriers students face, identifying available
supports, and exploring the partnerships needed to help students move from an interest
in healthcare to the training needed to make their career goals reality.

The day featured updates from the NC Department of Public Instruction on state and
regional workforce efforts. A higher education panel highlighted pathway options and
opportunities across the Western NC region, helping attendees better understand how
to connect students with the right programs and resources.

The feedback from the summit shows strong momentum:

• 93.8% identified a specific pathway, program, or next step they can use with
• students.
• 93.8% made a connection they intend to follow up on.
• 87.5% left feeling highly prepared to help a student navigate a healthcare pathway.
• 68.8% identified a potential partnership.

These numbers are encouraging because they show that people left the summer with a deeper understanding of the issue, new contacts and practicial steps that can make a real difference for students,

This event built on the success of a previous summit held in October that brought together K-12 staff who work with students in health sciences. That group requested a second session to go deeper into regional pathways and create more space for collaboration with the school districts across the region.

Events like the Careers that Care Summit play a critical role in building the health
workforce employers need and enabling students to pursue meaningful careers close to
home. In turn, a strong local workforce that aligns with employers’ needs helps our
communities become more robust and better places to live.