Forty-four students recently graduated from Bergen Community College’s Pre-Apprenticeship in Career Education (PACE) program made possible through a $347,696 New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development grant.
The initiative seeks to train health care workers who can quickly enter the industry facing a shortage of qualified employees. The New Jersey Hospital Association projects a shortfall of 80,000 healthcare workers by 2032. Bergen’s Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development oversees the program.
“I’m incredibly proud of the remarkable growth of this program,” Bergen Vice President of Continuing Education and Workforce Development Cinzia D’Iorio said. “The PACE grant has empowered us to serve students in our community while helping address critical employment gaps in the field of health professions.”
Students in the PACE program receive tuition-free hands-on training from experienced health-care professionals using industry technology to prepare them for the field. Subject areas include English-as-a-Second-Language for health professionals, EKG technology and phlebotomy.
Students also had the opportunity to earn certifications through the National Healthcareer Association, which further enhanced their employment prospects. The college partnered with Bergen New Bridge Medical Center to offer the program and to provide graduates with potential employment opportunities.
Health care is Bergen County’s top-ranked employment sector and represents an important curriculum area for the college. Responding to the needs of the regional employers, Bergen offers more than a dozen credit, certificate and continuing education programs that prepare students for immediate entry into the workforce. The college’s main campus in Paramus includes a three-story Health Professions Integrated Teaching Center equipped with simulation labs, a full dental hygiene clinic and industry-standard technology.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 14,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst.
