MARIENVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Snyder Memorial Health Care Center provides a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program, and students from Abraxas Youth Treatment facility are among those who have recently earned their certifications.
(Photo courtesy Snyder Memorial Health Care Center.)
ExploreJeffersonpa.com spoke to Matt Morris, administrator at Windsor House, a skilled nursing and memory care community at Snyder Memorial in Marienville.
“In the state of Pennsylvania, for aids to be working in a nursing home, we are required to have them certified. We are training our own CNA’s, so we can hire them,” Morris explained.
Students take a 130-hour training course in a four-week period. New training classes begin each month.
According to Morris, those who go through the program come from many backgrounds. While some participants are looking to start a career, others are switching careers. Some students have advanced education; others do not.
Most of the students going through the training will be hired by Snyder Memorial when they complete the class and state certification. The state requires both a practical and written exam.
Students must be 18 years of age. A GED (General Educational Development) certification is acceptable. Students undergo a background check and drug test before being accepted into the program.
During the training, the students who plan to work at Snyder are paid $9.00 per hour. Once the students complete the class, they go to work at Snyder for $11.50 per hour. When the students earn their state certification, the pay increases to $12.00 per hour, plus shift differential.
“This (CNA training) is an introductory into healthcare,” Morris said. “We’ve had many CNA’s go on to become nurses.”
Snyder Memorial can help with tuition for employees working toward advanced training, as well.
“We are trying to get people interested in the healthcare field,” Morris explained. “We had high school students in here recently doing some job shadowing. There is a crisis in finding people to work in the field.”
Providing training and hiring local residents is a definite plus for Snyder Memorial and the community, Morris said.
Julie Fryman, an instructor in the CNA program, said the course is an advantage for an area that has a high rate of poverty.
“We’re trying to reach out and help people obtain careers and help them improve their living conditions,” she said.
In recent CNA classes, some of the students have come from the Abraxas Youth Treatment Facility in Marienville.
Abraxas provides community-based and residential programming for at-risk youth, adults, and families. The facility offers treatment, behavioral health services, educational & vocational support, life skills, family counseling, recreation, and community engagement.
Five students from Abraxas have completed the course.
Dave Fitch, Workforce Development Supervisor for Abraxas, said, “All five have been discharged. Four of the five passed their exam on the first try, which says a lot about the program.”
The students from Abraxas don’t get paid because most of them are not from the area, and when they leave Abraxas, they don’t stay in the area.
Two of the former Abraxas students have kept in touch with Fitch. He said they have done exceptionally well.
“One of those students is actually now a CNA floor supervisor. He was able to go home, get an apartment, and got his own car. He is signed up to start nursing school soon.”
Another student told Fitch that she was considering going back to her old ways, but when she looked at her CNA certificate, she decided to shut the door on the past and walk toward a more positive future.
Fitch is grateful for the partnership.
The next CNA class at Snyder Memorial Health Care Center begins on February 11, 2020. It will include two students from Abraxas.
“I really don’t know if they know and truly understand how these certifications have changed a couple of our kid’s lives,” said Fitch.
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