(This article appeared in its entirety in the June/July 2006 issue of UMMConnections.)

A shortage of respiratory therapists has hospitals nationwide competing for these professionals. At University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), they are trying a novel approach: Growing their own.

The solution came through UMMC’s Career Development Services, working with Respiratory Care Services. The program offers current employees of the hospital, as well as others in the community, a full scholarship if they qualify for the respiratory therapy program at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) Essex campus.

In exchange, the students agree to work for UMMC for three years after graduation, which will be September 2007. The program was recognized in May with a Baltimore Encore “Innovator” award from the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board, as a creative method of contributing to a strong workforce in the city.

Jo-Ann Williams, MS, manager of career development services, and Saana Wright, MBA, a hospital career coach, developed the program and provide continuing support to UMMC enrolled employees.

“The need for respiratory therapists continues to grow each year,” says Jeff Ford, MS, RRT, director of respiratory care services. “As the hospital expands, we are planning for increased coverage of respiratory care, and will need 25 more staff in the next two years. We could gain 18 new graduates by next September when they complete the program.”

In addition to the six UMMC employees who signed up for the program, the Medical Center recruited 12 more through the CCBC respiratory therapy program. All the students agreed to commit to working at UMMC for three years after graduation, in return for UMMC covering the cost of tuition, books and all other fees related to enrollment.

Current employees of the hospital who take the class also continue to be paid their regular salary for the two days a week that they attend class instead of reporting to work.

“When I started here a little over a year ago, more than half of the respiratory therapists in the department were agency workers,” Ford says. “We had trouble filling the vacancies — hence the heavy dependence on contract labor.”

After Williams met with him and the program began taking shape, Ford says, the Medical Center developed renewed relationships with CCBC to get it started, and has also affiliated with other colleges in the mid-Atlantic region and Georgia to attract graduates.

“Instructors are difficult to find. In past years, the local programs were not attracting students and thus not producing new grads,” Ford says. “But because of need, and better recruiting at the college level, more students have been attracted to respiratory therapy as a profession.”

Contact:
Jo-Ann Williams, MS
Manager of Career Development Programs
University of Maryland Medical Center
410-328-5231