Last year, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, along with more than 70 businesses and the University of Hawaii community colleges, committed to participating in a $35 million workforce development initiative. The first group of 30 students graduated in December from the CNA-to-LPN bridge program, designed to train licensed practical nurses and help address the growing shortage of healthcare workers in Hawaii.

Thirty-eight students are enrolled in the next cohort and began their studies this month.

HAH represents nursing homes, assisted living communities and residential care homes, home health agencies and acute care hospitals in the Aloha State, as well as durable medical equipment suppliers and home infusion/pharmacies, among other types of providers.

Janna Hoshide, senior director of workforce development at HAH, told the McKnight’s Business Daily that the program is under a federal grant from the Economic Development Association. Hawaii calls the state program Good Jobs Hawaii, she said.

The funding lasts through 2025, and Hoshide said that the organization is looking for sustainable funding to carry the program into the future.

“We’re in that process right now, and we have quite a bit of interest from both public and private stakeholders, so we’re in a good place,” she said.

Four of the students initially enrolled in the bridge program dropped out at some point, said Mary Farmer, chair of the Allied Health Department at the University of Hawaii Maui College.

“This is kind of typical in nursing school. Generally speaking, it could be life stressors that come into play. It could be issues with balance,” Farmer said. “One of the other things about this program is, to maintain eligibility, you have to be employed with the clinical partner. So we had some people who had ended up losing their employment.”

The 30 newly graduated LPNs now are working in a residency program with their sponsoring organization.

“One of the ways that we kind of keep the graduates engaged is that we get them right into a transition program from school. We call it transition to practice, where they’re out there working with the nurses,” Farmer said.

Ohana Pacific Health and Hale Makua Health Services CEO Wesley Lo said that the graduates usually spend three to four months in residency to learn the ropes.

“In the residency part, we educate, and we have them come together for some of what we call nonclinical hours, just to make sure that they’re acclimating well,” Lo said.

HAH President and CEO Hilton R. Raethel noted in a press release that the association’s 2022 Healthcare Workforce Initiative report that 30% of all LPN positions in Hawaii were vacant in 2022, which was an increase of 47% compared with 2019. Among other key findings of the report were the need to increase the entry-level health certification pipeline, attract and retain healthcare workforce through glide paths, and expand nurse residency and transition-to-specialty registered nurse programs.

“We are working on trying to develop some pathways to actually continue their journey on to become RNs. It’s a little bit more complicated, and we’re going to digest the meal we just swallowed a little bit first, but we are looking at that, too,” Farmer said.