College's Division of Workforce Partnerships earns 2024 PACE-RI Academic Partnership Award

12/12/2024

The Community College of Rhode Island’s Division of Workforce Partnerships has won the 2024 PACE-RI Academic Partnership Award for its work in developing free training programs to help upskill more than 50 employees through online trainings and in-person courses at PACE’s East Providence, RI, headquarters and CCRI’s Providence Campus.

PACE-RI – or Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly – is a health plan founded in 2005 for adults 55 and older who have chronic health needs and wish to remain living at home. PACE provides participants with both insurance and medical care, as well as a range of health and social services that include adult day care, transportation, and meals.

Courtesy of a grant from Rhode Island’s Executive Office of Health & Human Services, focused on the growth and development of home and community-based service providers across Rhode Island, CCRI instructors tailored content across seven professional development programs and offered them to all PACE-RI employees. Topics covered included Mental Health First Aid; Social Determinants of Health; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Healthcare; and a comprehensive seven-week course on Healthcare Data and Reporting skills. 59 PACE-RI employees participated in the trainings. CCRI accepted its award at PACE-RI’s annual meeting on Thursday, December 5.

“This recognition highlights another powerful example of CCRI’s collaborative efforts with employers to upskill and strengthen Rhode Island’s workforce,” said CCRI Interim President Rosemary Costigan, Ph.D., RN, “Continuing education for healthcare professionals is absolutely critical, and we are proud to partner with PACE-RI to ensure their workforce is able to continue delivering the highest quality of care for elderly Rhode Islanders.”

“The Community College of Rhode Island has been indispensable in empowering and training healthcare providers across Rhode Island and our staff at PACE-RI,” said PACE-RI Education & Research Associate Trish Suess, MBA. “Undoubtedly these trainings have directly enhanced our workforce’s ability to deliver compassionate, culturally competent care, while improving our overall service to the diverse populations we serve. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to strengthening Rhode Island's healthcare workforce and advancing quality care across our state.”

“We are particularly grateful for our CCRI partnership because they are nimble and innovative in working with us,” added Joan Kwiatkowski, CEO of PACE-RI. “Our staff come from a wide variety of backgrounds and clinical experiences so having a flexible and encouraging training partner is critical for success.”

CCRI and PACE-RI are actively exploring future opportunities to strengthen their partnership, including potential internships and work-based learning experiences for upcoming workforce cohorts, showcasing a shared commitment to advancing workforce development in Rhode Island’s healthcare sector. 

CCRI's Division of Workforce Partnerships works in close collaboration with industry and business leaders to ensure the college’s offerings are meeting both current and future workforce needs. The Division builds and delivers workforce training solutions in business, finance, technology, education, healthcare, manufacturing and trades, and renewable energy.

In recent years, CCRI has added new certificate and training programs to keep up with the ever-changing needs of the Rhode Island workforce and economy. The college’s Lincoln Campus is home to the state’s only offshore wind safety training center, which trains all workers seeking a Global Wind Organisation (GWO) training certificate to provide them with the specialized safety credentials required for working in America’s fast-growing offshore wind sector. CCRI also launched new programs in cannabis workforce training, gaming, and construction, which includes its Introduction to Table Games dealer training course and a soon-to-be launched Apprenticeship Readiness Program, which will use the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) to deliver an industry-recognized credential.

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