BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro Memorial Hospital has recently been awarded a Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant of $19,000 over the next two years.
According to a news release, this grant will provide support for the College to Career Program and BMH and Community College of Vermont's accelerated Medical Assistant training program and will strengthen the variety of population health services and programs in the Brattleboro area.
For the past three years, BMH and Community College of Vermont have joined forces to create and implement an accelerated program to prepare qualified candidates for jobs as Certified Medical Assistants.
This program was created in response to challenges filling positions within the local healthcare workforce, and has become a critical resource for both BMH and for people in the Brattleboro area who are looking to increase their skills and to obtain jobs in the medical profession.
Medical Assistants support clinicians by preparing patients for their exams, performing basic laboratory tests, and documenting patients' medical histories, among other clinical responsibilities.
By providing these much needed services, Medical Assistants free up clinicians to spend more face-to-face time with patients, and increase the number of patients that clinicians can care for each day.
This grant will provide for full tuition for eight new students to complete an 18-week program to obtain their Medical Assistant certification, allowing them to begin a career within BMH's Medical Group practices.
The training will include rotations throughout the various specialties of BMH's 12 outpatient practices in order to learn how to operate specific equipment and to navigate and document electronic medical records.
Classes will be held on the CCV Brattleboro campus. For more information about the Medical Assistant program, please go to www.ccv.edu or contact Leigh Marthe at 802-254-6389.