Guild Press
February 2nd, 2023
Guild expands access to learning programs and career services to more than half a million healthcare employees, Brings together industry titans to advise on strategy and help drive impact in the sector
Denver, CO, Feb. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Guild, the leader in opportunity creation for America’s workforce, announced continued momentum in the healthcare industry, including partnerships with 17 leading healthcare organizations to offer education, skilling, and career services to more than half a million healthcare employees. Additionally the company announced new data on the impact and outcomes for healthcare employees and organizations, as well as new advisors to help advance the company’s mission in the sector. Collectively, this momentum is enabling Guild and its healthcare partners to address complex labor challenges and build accessible career pathways in the industry.
Healthcare occupations are projected to increase 13 percent by 2031, significantly faster than the workforce average. This will result in a projected 2 million new jobs over the next decade in addition to the millions of expected openings each year due to replacement needs as employees leave the industry. Many factors have led to this moment. People working in healthcare have suffered disproportionately from the physical and emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to burnout, a shrinking workforce, and more onerous demands on those who remain. At the same time, the industry has ambitious and needed health equity goals, is adapting to evolving modalities of care, and finds itself in the face of rapid digital transformation. In this context, Guild is doubling down to meet the moment, recognizing the healthcare industry and its employees have unique and complex needs.
“The challenges healthcare organizations and their employees are facing have existed for some time, but were exacerbated by the pandemic. Guild is partnering with the most innovative organizations to implement real solutions,” said Hanna Patterson, Senior Vice President of Healthcare and Applied Learning at Guild. “By creating access and paving pathways for more people to begin a career and grow in the field, healthcare organizations are better equipped to meet the needs of patients today while ensuring their workforces have the skills they need for the future.”
New Partnerships
Guild now partners with leading healthcare organizations across the country including AdventHealth, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Gentiva, ProMedica, Providence, Sharp HealthCare, Sentara Healthcare, Trilogy Health Services, and UCHealth. Together, Guild and these organizations are helping to broaden access to the field, provide on the job training and learning opportunities for their employees, and create tangible career pathways that support a broader and more diverse healthcare workforce. In turn, organizations are better equipped to deliver care and support health equity for their communities today and into the future, while healthcare employees get greater opportunities to advance their careers.
“Everyone who works at UCHealth is focused on delivering excellent patient care,” said Kathy Howell, Chief Nursing Officer at UCHealth. “By partnering with Guild, we’re providing opportunities for our staff to further their education and career opportunities within our organization. We’re also creating opportunities for community members to join UCHealth and begin a career in healthcare without a formal education, and to grow within our organization. Since our program launched in February of last year, we’ve created pathways for entry into our organization and increased the diversity of our new hires to be more reflective of the communities we serve.”
Early Impact & Guild’s Learning Marketplace
Guild’s inaugural American Workforce Survey found that 94% of healthcare employees surveyed said having a career path was at least somewhat important to them. This response puts a finer point on the critical need – and desire – for learning opportunities and career mobility. Within six months of their employer launching a program with Guild, 1 in 4 healthcare employees have engaged with Guild’s Career Opportunity Platform to explore a career pathway or path back to school. The impact of this engagement on healthcare employers is already being realized in the form of improved talent attraction and retention. At one Guild healthcare partner, more than half of new hires cited the Guild program as a reason for joining the company. In the first year of the program, the same organization saw nurses engaged with the program were 3.6x less likely to leave relative to non-engaged nurses.
Of engaged employees across Guild’s healthcare partners, 63% have selected a program within healthcare, including allied health and nursing. To meet this growing demand, Guild continues to expand its learning marketplace, which is composed of the nation’s best universities and learning providers for working adults – based on rigorous outcomes and a diligent quality assurance process. Recent additions include innovative institutions focused on increasing access to in-demand programs and helping to combat the healthcare workforce shortage such as Ohio University, Louisiana State University, and Herzing University.
In total, Guild offers more than 275 unique healthcare programs ranging from Medical Assistant certificates to Healthcare Administration and Doctor of Nursing degrees. Innovative foundational learning programs like Rio Salado College’s new Nursing Start provide learners without previous clinical experience a pathway into nursing education and a critical entry point enabling expanded career opportunities. Courses like “Intro to Nursing and Healthcare Systems” help to jumpstart a career in nursing in a supportive environment that caters to the unique needs of working adults.
Guild’s Healthcare Advisors
Guild is bringing together a group of industry leaders including Stephen Klasko, MD, Tony Tedeschi, MD and Melissa Fitzpatrick, MSN, RN, FAAN to serve as advisors to the company’s healthcare strategy. Combined, they bring more than 11 decades of experience, deep understanding of the industry’s evolution, and visionary leadership to help prepare healthcare and its workforce for the future. The group will support Guild’s continued expansion into the healthcare industry and drive key insights for the company.
“Every health system CEO is talking about workforce transformation. I’m thrilled to be advising Guild in this capacity, as the company’s work is positively changing employee culture for its partners,” said Stephen Klasko, Executive-in-Residence at General Catalyst and former President and CEO at Jefferson Health. “Guild is creating a new model for healthcare organizations to attract, develop, and promote talent in the industry in a way that supports an equitable and sustainable health system for employees, patients, and their communities.”
Learn more about how Guild is helping organizations prepare for the future of healthcare through education, skilling, and career mobility here, and read first-hand accounts of Guild’s impact on the lives of healthcare employees here.
About Guild
Guild’s Career Opportunity PlatformTM enables forward-thinking employers to invest in their employees, unlocking life-changing opportunities for personal and professional growth through education and learning programs, career development and one-on-one coaching. Guild partners with the nation’s largest employers — including Walmart, Chipotle, Discover, Hilton, Macy’s, Target and The Walt Disney Company — to create cultures of opportunity that will help them attract and retain top talent, and build the workforce of the future. Using Guild’s Career Opportunity Platform full of real-world education and learning programs, employees at those companies can gain the skills, knowledge and guidance they need to build a brighter future for themselves and their families — all without paying for tuition or career services on their own.
For more information, visit https://guild.com
