MCC’s Corporate Ed. Partners with LGH to Offer Training to Staff

Middlesex Community College’s Corporate Education and Training program has partnered with Lowell General Hospital (LGH) for a number of years to provide leadership training to the hospital’s employees. A leader of workforce training for over 30 years, MCC’s Corporate Ed. understands how industries work and how to best prepare employees to succeed.

The partnership between MCC’s Corporate Ed. and LGH began in 2013 after they were awarded a $50,000 workforce training grant by the Mass. Department of Higher Education. They received a $250,000 Healthcare Transformation Training Fund Grant in 2015 from the Department of Labor to develop leaders.

“Lowell General Circle Heath is an amazing partner,” said Judy Burke, MCC’s Executive Director of Institutional Advancement. “At every level and in so many ways, LGH is selfless in their approach toward collaboration. Talented and gifted LGH staff serve on our advisory boards, provide clinical oversight for our health careers students, and offer help to the community when we all need it most. We are proud to partner with them to bring continued professional development to their staff, strengthening their employees as individuals and as a whole.”

LGH’s Deborah Bergholm-Petka, Director of Organizational Development, and Lori Lesofsky, Training and Development Specialist, describe the collaboration as helping to provide Circle Health and LGH with “a workforce of the highest caliber, the best work environment and the organizational culture needed to support the hospital’s mission and vision.”

“Middlesex shares Lowell General Hospital’s commitment to the community,” they said. “As one of the largest employers in the area, Lowell General has a diverse employee population with diverse professional development needs. MCC provides resources that support all of our employees. Supporting an engaged workforce ultimately allows us to take better care of the people who live in our community.”

In their ongoing partnership, MCC offers training in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Certified Healthcare Access Associate (CHAA) exam prep course, Leadership Development – Evolving Leader, Becoming a Strategic Leader, Authentic Leadership Presence, and Leadership Skills. They also offer an enhanced tuition reimbursement process for employees to pay for trainings.

With MCC’s trainings, LGH hopes to bring out the best in their employees to build a stronger organization overall. It is also important to them to support their staff in their professional development. Both Bergholm-Petka and Lesofsky believe MCC uses effective teaching styles to provide knowledge and that are tailored to match LGH’s needs, mission, vision and values.

LGH has seen positive feedback from both formal and informal sources, including course evaluations, according to Bergholm-Petka and Lesofsky. The results of the trainings have also impacted LGH’s employee engagement survey.

"Participating in the continuing education program at MCC gave me the opportunity to assess my job performance from an updated perspective,” said Kathleen Kania, Concierge Services at LGH. “This resulted in confirming my commitment to my job and in providing a better understanding of how it fits in with the needs of the company for which I work. It also provided an expanded view of my career choice."

As a leader of professional development and workforce training for over 30 years, MCC’s Corporate Education and Training program provides employees with the knowledge and skills they need to start or advance in their careers. Visit https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/bus_ind/ or contact Teresa Medina at medinat@middlesex.mass.edu for more information.

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