The Health Care District of Palm Beach County’s acute care teaching hospital, Lakeside Medical Center, is partnering with Palm Beach State College (PBSC) to support healthcare workforce needs and provide continuing education to hospital staff in the underserved, rural region known as the Glades. The hospital, which this year was named the most racially inclusive hospital in the country by the Lown Institute, sees this collaboration as a way to open the door for local students to receive training and employment in the health care field.

“Lakeside Medical Center, the Health Care District of Palm Beach County’s rural teaching hospital, is proud of this innovative partnership with the Palm Beach State College Belle Glade campus,” said Janet Moreland, APRN, MSN, LHRM, the hospital’s Associate Vice President. “We look forward to showing students the hospital’s many rewarding career opportunities so they’ll consider joining our healthcare team to serve the Glades communities following graduation. This win-win collaboration also affords our hospital staff opportunities to advance their skills through continuing education courses at the college.”

“We are excited to collaborate with Lakeside Medical Center and believe this strategic partnership will greatly benefit both organizations,” said Dr. LaTanya McNeal, executive dean of the PBSC Belle Glade campus. “Our students will now get the opportunity to learn about the many great career opportunities at Lakeside through a tour of the hospital and their ambassador program. The partnership will also bring hospital staff to the Belle Glade campus as we jointly plan a series of lunch and learn workshops on health-related topics, develop career seminars and panels on health-related fields for students.”

The partnership will increase students’ exposure to health care through onsite internships in areas like nursing, pharmacy, radiology, phlebotomy, respiratory, information technology, and business services. In turn, the collaboration will also create a pipeline for PBSC graduates to fill hospital vacancies.