Whitesburg, KY— Tomorrow in Whitesburg, Kentucky, receptionists will walk across a graduation stage as nurses. Medical assistants will become nurse practitioners. Employees who once thought college was financially out of reach will receive bachelor’s and MBA degrees — all while continuing to serve patients in the same rural Kentucky communities where they grew up.
They are the latest graduates of RAISE, a workforce development program launched by Mountain Health Comprehensive Corporation three years ago in southeastern Kentucky — a region where healthcare workforce shortages are among the worst in the nation and where the memory of the coal economy still shapes what opportunity looks like.
“Life happens, and for one reason or another, people had to give up on their dreams,” said MCHC Chief Executive Officer Mike Caudill. “RAISE makes those dreams possible, affordable, and achievable again. We don’t have a shortage of dedicated people who want to serve their communities. We have a shortage of opportunities. RAISE is helping to change that.”
RAISE is the result of a collaboration between Advocates for Community Health and UnitedHealthcare Community & State aimed at helping health centers tackle complex community health challenges through innovative solutions. One of those solutions focuses on helping community health centers like MCHC recruit, train, and retain a sustainable healthcare workforce in underserved communities.
Since the RAISE program began, nearly 200 MCHC employees have earned additional certifications, training, or degrees, with most continuing to work within the same health centers where they first began their careers in roles such as reception, housekeeping, medical assisting, and other frontline positions.
MCHC’s efforts are part of a growing national trend among health centers to develop innovative workforce solutions on their own by forging partnerships amid a chronic underinvestment in primary care. Since 2023, health centers nationwide have trained more than 83,000 workers to fill gaps in nursing, dentistry, and primary care.
In rural Kentucky, the shortage of primary care providers is especially acute. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration designates much of the state as a Health Professional Shortage Area.
Founded in 1971, MCHC serves more than 54,000 patients through clinics across eight counties in eastern Kentucky, providing care in communities where many residents live in deep poverty and face chronic health conditions tied to generations of coal mining labor.
In a region long shaped by the decline of the coal economy, MCHC views workforce development as both a healthcare solution and an economic one — creating opportunities for local residents to build stable careers without leaving the communities they call home.
“Southeastern Kentucky, our service area, has a severe healthcare workforce shortage, specifically in nursing,” said Caudill. “As we compete with hospitals and travel nurse agencies for quality nursing staff, every day is a challenge.”
For MCHC, the goal is not simply filling workforce vacancies. It is building a future where people in rural Appalachia can train, work, and build careers in the communities they love.
Learn more about Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation and its impactful work serving eastern Kentucky communities at https://www.mchcky.com/.
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About Advocates for Community Health (ACH)
Established in 2021, Advocates for Community Health (ACH) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization of community health centers dedicated to forward-thinking and ambitious federal policy and advocacy on behalf of health centers, their patients, and their communities. To learn more, visit advocatesforcommunityhealth.org.