2017 Community Benefit Report CHAI_160088756_2018-11_2017 Community Benefit Repo | Page 10

2017 COMMUNITY BENEFIT REPORT
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL COLORADO
Investing in Our
Community’s Youth
Program develops local talent to populate the
healthcare workforce
Mayra Dawkins grew up eight minutes from Children’s Hospital Colorado and attended a
local Aurora high school. She had a passion for helping people, and in her sophomore year of
high school, a teacher encouraged her to apply for a program at Children’s Colorado, the Medical
Career Collaborative (MC 2 ).
Bringing skilled workers back home
Upon graduating from Regis University with a Bachelors of
Science in Nursing, Mayra returned to Children’s Colorado, now
working as a Registered Nurse in the Urology Clinic and an active
member on the MC 2 Alumni Board.
“There’s a lack of Spanish-speaking providers in this community,”
says Mayra. “MC 2 gives kids from our community an opportunity
to learn about healthcare then come back to work in the same
community they grew up in.”
Mayra believes it’s essential to provide culturally responsive
care to all and that it’s necessary to give back to her community.
“When I see a Spanish-speaking family that’s never had a
Spanish-speaking provider and I’m their first one, their whole
world lights up,” she says. “If we keep investing in our community
and the students who come from it to help them experience
new educational opportunities, we can increase the number of
providers who can communicate with and provide appropriate
care for patients here.”
Mayra plans on attending the University of Colorado at Denver to
obtain her Doctorate prepared Family Nurse Practitioner degree
next fall, saying, “I’m excited to further my education and help
bridge the gap of Spanish-speaking providers in our community.”
Starting in 1999 as the first program of its kind in Colorado, the MC 2 program engages high school students in
experiences that give them a jump start on careers in health, medicine and the biosciences. The program focuses on
high-achieving students from underrepresented backgrounds and those from socio-economically disadvantaged
groups in the Denver metro area. For Mayra, it was the opportunity she needed to discover her passion for healthcare.
Creating a more culturally representative
workforce
Like the national landscape, the Colorado healthcare workforce
does not accurately represent the communities it serves, most
notably with racial and ethnic groups. According to a report
published by The Colorado Trust in 2013, minorities account
for 33 percent of Colorado’s population but only make up 7
percent of nurses, 8 percent of physician assistants and 15
percent of dentists. This is in large part because students
from underprivileged backgrounds often lack access to the
preparation, knowledge, connection and education that fosters
entry into these professions.
MC 2 aims to build a more representative and culturally responsive
healthcare workforce by creating a pipeline for students to move
from high school to the healthcare workforce.
“Our goal is to see these students move through their education
and into healthcare careers by offering a direct pathway for
them, and in turn, creating a more diverse healthcare workforce
at Children’s Colorado, across the Denver metro area and across
the state,” says Stacey Whiteside, Human Resources manager at
Children’s Colorado.
Exposing youth to a future in healthcare
Coming from parents who migrated from Mexico and never
attended college, Mayra knew she wanted to be the first in her
family to attend, but didn’t know where or how. Mayra started
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MC 2 her junior year of high school with an internship at Children’s
Colorado, where she observed the inpatient floor and assisted
with tasks like restocking supplies or supporting families.
“All I knew about healthcare was what I saw on TV. Through MC 2
I learned there’s so much more than that,” says Mayra. “Even
though I was just doing simple tasks in the hospital, for a 17-year-
old, I truly felt like I was making a difference, and it prompted me
to pursue this career path.”
The components of MC 2 are designed to familiarize students
with different aspects of healthcare, expose them to a variety of
careers in the healthcare industry and assist them in exploring and
preparing for post-secondary education programs. This includes paid
internships, one-on-one mentoring by hospital staff, monthly field
trips, workshops and trainings, on-site personal and professional
development seminar sessions, service learning opportunities, post-
secondary coaching, career guidance and job placement assistance.
There’s also a newly added Phase II of the program that continues
the pipeline for students to move efficiently from high school
through post-secondary education and directly into their chosen
career field.
The program has been so successful in its goals, it’s now
been adopted at Denver Health, with hopes of furthering its
expansion into hospitals across the state. With only 60 spots
for new participants each year, the program has become highly
competitive among local high school students.
Program outcomes: Participant demographics:
57 92%
Past participants have been hired by Children’s Hospital
Colorado over the past 13 years Are students of color
84%
Are enrolled in a 2-year technical program or a 4-year
bachelor’s degree program
74.5%
Are in pre-health programs
81%
Are bilingual
86%
Are from low-income households
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