A few years ago, before major labor shortages and with the intent of operationalizing their anchor mission, St. Joseph Hospital connected with Cross Purpose, a local nonprofit workforce organization that provides job training and wrap-around support for people with barriers to employment. Over the past few years, St. Joe’s served as an externship site for Cross Purpose’s Medical Assistant (MA) trainees and subsequently hired a few Cross Purpose graduates (referred to as ‘Leaders’).
At the end of 2022, St. Joe’s and Cross Purpose finalized a partnership that greatly increases the opportunity for both organizations. St. Joe’s committed to hiring 30 Certified Nursing Associates (CNA) graduates and 25 MA graduates in 2023 and will pay Cross Purpose to offset their training costs with hospital staff providing critical components of training to Cross Purpose Leaders.
St. Joe’s will pay part of the training costs at the onset of a training cohort and a second payment will be paid on a per graduate basis, after an individual has worked at St. Joe’s for 6 months, creating a direct incentive for Cross Purpose to provide follow-up support to recent hires.
The CNA base pay along with sign-on bonuses as high as $10,000, puts the starting pay in the range Cross Purpose sets as a goal for newly graduated Leaders. St. Joe’s is committed to supporting cohort graduates in furthering their education and certifications, which will lead to pay increases for the workers and positively impact labor shortages at St. Joe’s.
At the onset of St. Joe’s relationship with Cross Purpose, Chuck Ault, Regional Director Community Health Improvement for St. Joseph Hospital was intentional about starting small, as a way of gently introducing his colleagues to the anchor concept of deliberately opening employment opportunities at the hospital. This MVP (Minimum Viable Product) approach has repeatedly proven to be successful in laying the foundation for larger shifts in practices with Denver Anchor Network partners. Chuck is masterful at it!
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