LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A new training center is helping people get the skills they need to enter the healthcare industry as Las Vegas faces staffing shortages.
The Westside Educational and Training Center is now fully operational and as of this month is helping students access free education and workforce training in fields like advanced manufacturing, information technology, construction and healthcare.
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Aaryana Mostafaeipour said the program helped open doors. Even after earning a master’s degree in public health, she could not land a job after applying for six months.
“It really helped put the pieces together. It literally built my career,” Mostafaeipour said.
She said the experience connected her with community partners and that networking led to a full-time position.
Building community health workers
The training center said it is building the next generation of community health workers, bridging the gap between patients and providers when stigma or trust gets in the way.
“So we’re that middle. Whatever they don’t tell the doctor because of stigma, because they don’t feel comfortable, because of trust, we commit. And then we build that,” said Melba Borrero.
Instructor Alisa Howard said a big part of the training is teaching students how to serve the community they come from and why that representation matters.
“The people that look like them, the people that have lived experience like them, and they help bridge those gaps,” Howard said.
She said the eight-week program is already feeding workers into the pipeline, with clinics, hospitals, RTC and UNLV hiring former students.
Howard said the building is doing something the neighborhood has not had before.
“It’s a food desert, it’s an education desert. We didn’t have anything over here that was college or higher ed,” Howard said. “Now this is the first building and it’s bringing opportunities to people. People are walking in, people are driving by and saying, there’s a college in my neighborhood now. That inspires people.”
The training center said about 70 percent of students who complete courses are getting employed right now and they expect that number to grow as they build more business and industry partnerships and customize courses to match what employers need.
The Westside Education and Training Center said enrollment is strong but expects it to keep growing as more people in the community learn about the program.
Expansion is already in the works, with plans for additional locations on the eastside and another near Bonanza and Pecos.
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