Corporate Training News

MCOR, EMCC Partner with HonorHealth for Medical Assistant Program

Honor Health Students
Thirteen students will soon be certified Medical Assistants with HonorHealth as a result of an innovative partnership between Maricopa County Community College District’s (MCCCD) Maricopa Corporate College (MCOR) and Estrella Mountain Community College, and HonorHealth that launched earlier this year.

The 6-month program, known as the Consortium Medical Assisting Program (C-MAP), was created as a result of HonorHealth’s critical need for quality medical assistants to continue their growth and expansion throughout the Valley. HonorHealth approached MCCCD for a solution to this shortage and together, MCOR, HonorHealth and the SouthWest Skill Center at EMCC, developed a customized program to match their needs. This included adding subjects such as population health management, leadership, time-management, patient-centered care and customer service to the curriculum.

Julie Stiak, District Director of Health Care Education, said it was the unique strengths of each partner that facilitated the successful launch of the program.

“Maricopa Corporate College was able to leverage its resources immediately to support the whole managing of the project. Estrella Mountain had the medical assisting program,” Stiak said. “Neither could have done it without the other. This was truly a partnership in action.”

Nathan Anspach, senior vice president of HonorHealth and chief executive officer of HonorHealth Medical Group, believes this program will play a significant role as HonorHealth continues to expand throughout the Valley.

“HonorHealth’s Medical Group continues to grow rapidly with a new primary care office benefitting our community opening every six weeks – the Consortium Medical Assisting Program, offered through the Maricopa Corporate College will allow us to continue this rapid growth,” Anspach said.

Stiak and others who were involved in the project had high praise for HonorHealth and their commitment to being part of the solution.

“Everything that we’ve discussed, [HonorHealth] has been willing to make happen,” Chris Black, program manager at the SouthWest Skill Center at EMCC, said.

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will be considered for employment with the HonorHealth Medical Group. Current HonorHealth employees are eligible to participate in the program at no cost, while external students are eligible for an $1800 scholarship to help offset the cost of the program.

HonorHealth also dedicated two medical office suites to the program to ensure that students get the hands-on experience they need to develop their newly learned skills. Their dedication to creating a program that truly prepares individuals for the workforce did not go unnoticed by the students.

Luis Bautisa

“Just the simple fact that they decided to go out of their way to put together this clinic for us, to give us a better immersion into what the field of medical assisting is…I think that’s just amazing,” C-MAP student Luis Bautisa said. “They can prepare you for the workforce way before you even get out there.”

The program is unique in that it benefits the individual and the employer by ensuring potential employees have the specific skillsets that a particular employer needs. Sue Roe, who worked as a consultant on behalf of HonorHealth throughout the project, considers this kind of partnership to be essential to the healthcare industry.

"I believe this type of program is the future of workforce development," Roe said, "It is really important that when folks graduate from a program, particularly in healthcare, they are well prepared to successfully begin their jobs."



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