North Island College is bringing its health care assistant certificate program to Denman Island, starting in September.
The program prepares students to provide frontline care in a variety of settings including adult day programs, residential care facilities and home support.
Anyone interested in taking the program is encouraged to attend an information session Monday, April 16 at 1 p.m. at the Denman Activity Centre.
The in-community program is available with funding from the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training in conjunction with the Hornby & Denman Community Health Care Society.
“We’re really pleased the Hornby & Denman Community Health Care Society continues to come to NIC to offer quality programming on the islands,” said Bird. “We last ran the HCA program in 2013 on Hornby Island and it was very successful. We know there’s a lot of demand for workers and are anticipating a lot of interest in this program.”
An aging population and current workers reaching retirement age is driving demand for qualified health care assistants on Denman and Hornby Islands.
“Our demographic on the islands is older than the provincial average,” said Lori Nawrot, executive director of the Hornby & Denman Community Health Care Society. “Having qualified workers able to provide home support makes a big difference to residents, allowing them to stay in their homes and communities for as long as possible.”
Having the training delivered in-community makes it more accessible for island residents, noted Nawrot. “We are grateful to North Island College for their willingness to bring this crucial training into our community. It makes it possible for island residents to enter this in-demand field and there is a lot of local interest.”
For more information, visit nic.bc.ca/program/health_care_assistant, or call 250-334-5000.