Delaware Technical Community College and Highmark Delaware opened the Highmark Healthcare Center of Excellence, a health care training center.
The facility will house 11 short-term health care certification programs, including those for certified nursing assistants, EKG technicians, and patient care technicians.
Del Tech president Mark Brainard said short-term certification programs are sometimes overlooked on campuses.
“As the population continues to age in Delaware and more demands are placed on the health care sector, entities are looking for those high quality employees to come out and be able to perform those skills,” Brainard said.
The only way the healthcare industry can deliver needed care is with a strong workforce, Brainard added.
Highmark’s president Nick Moriello said Delaware does a good job of attracting retirees to the state, and they create new needs for care.
“The workforce hasn't been able to keep up with it up to this point,” Moriello said. “So any kind of programs where we can help folks enter into the field of healthcare in a variety of ways, they're all very needed. And this program is an excellent example of it.”
The facility is at Del Tech’s Terry Campus in Dover. The $3.4 million project, which includes $1 million in funds from Highmark, started with renovations in 2020.
