Eastern Kentucky program aims to boost regional healthcare workforce
WUKY |
By
Nadia Ramlagan
Published August 2, 2026 at 8:19 AM EDT
KNC/Adobe Stock
Some community health centers in eastern Kentucky are training and educating prospective employees to fill gaps in the medical workforce
A few years ago, Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation in Letcher County created the RAISE, or Reach, Achieve, Inspire, Support and Employ, program after struggling to fill open positions
Now, RAISE graduates are working as certified medical assistants, nurse practitioners and in other critical health care jobs at the organization
Teresa Dotson is chief operating officer and director of administrative affairs for MCHC
“We have, clinical, administrative, and behavioral pathways. You can go all the way up administratively to a master’s degree. You can go all the way clinically to a nurse practitioner level,” Dotson said
Dotson added that the program is expanding to add career pathways for certified autism specialists, doulas and dental assistants
Out of 600 employees at MCHC, more than 200 have participated in the RAISE program
Dotson said she believes the whole region benefits when health care workers understand their patients
“And we’re all about expansion to what the need of the community is. And so we decided, in order to meet that need, that we would truly build our own,” Dotson said
According to the Federal Health Re considered a Health Professional Shortage Area, with an acute lack of primary care providers
More than 40 million rural Americans live in designated shortage areas, and federal projections warn the current supply isn’t enough to meet demand over the next decade, according to the National Rural Health Association
