ATTAIN leads to health careers at Schoellkopf Health Center
Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Eleven Niagara County residents have been approved by the state Department of Health to begin work as certified nursing assistants at Schoellkopf Health Center after completing an innovative training program conducted by the State University of New York ATTAIN Lab and Orleans-Niagara BOCES.

The training, held for the first time this summer, offered free preparatory training to prospective CNAs through a two-part curriculum that taught both basic job skills and the clinical skills needed to pass a state competency exam.

Its first graduates will begin work this month. Schoellkopf Health Center Administrator Thomas LoStracco said their hiring addresses a significant need.

“Certified nursing assistants are the unsung heroes of long-term nursing care,” said LoStracco. “The high-quality care and personal attention they provide are indispensable to our residents’ health and well-being.”

Phase I of the program focused on basic job skills and was conducted by ATTAIN. Participants who successfully completed it received a cash bonus and qualified to earn an hourly wage during Phase II. The second phase of their training, which was conducted by nursing instructors from Orleans-Niagara BOCES training, covered clinical and patient care skills, safety, recordkeeping and responding to emergencies.

ATTAIN Lab Case Manager Julianne Vitagliano-Galie said the new training program has proven to be extremely beneficial to those who participated in it.

“Besides providing them with jobs and helping them become self-sufficient, this collaborative effort has given our graduates the foundational building blocks for a successful healthcare career,” Vitagliano-Galie said.

Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center arcticle

For more information, please contact:
William Chalmers
(518)443-5793