Senator Baldwin Applauds $5 Million Investment to Address Health Care Workforce Shortage in Western Wisconsin

EAU CLAIRE, WI – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is applauding a Department of Labor (DOL) announcement that Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC) will receive more than $4.99 million to help expand access to education and training for good-paying jobs in health care and address the health care workforce shortage that is impacting rural Wisconsin. Senator Baldwin wrote a letter of support for CVTC to receive the DOL Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant.

The federal investment will support a regional effort designed to recruit, train, and prepare underserved individuals for critical healthcare careers across rural western Wisconsin, with a focus on addressing existing equity gaps preventing widespread access to educational and economic opportunity. CVTC’s partners include Mid-State Technical College, Western Technical College, and Northwood Technical College, who will also benefit from the federal funding. 

“Wisconsin’s technical colleges help students across our state access affordable higher education, learning the skills they need to earn a good paying job and filling the workforce needs in our rural communities,” said Senator Baldwin. “Rural communities are in dire need of more skilled health care workers, and I was proud to support this investment in Chippewa Valley Technical College and their regional partners to connect more Wisconsinites to affordable, high-quality education – leading them to family-supporting jobs and helping address the urgent health care worker crisis in their communities.”

“Our mission at CVTC is to help students fulfill their dreams, no matter where they live. We continually seek to identify those who need us the most,” said Sunem Beaton-Garcia, president of CVTC. “I am grateful for Sen. Tammy Baldwin's support to better serve rural communities in our region. We are lucky to have robust health care in west-central Wisconsin, and these opportunities are fulfilling, well-paid positions with great opportunity for career advancement.”

The Strengthening Community Colleges training grant program enables recipients like CVTC to increase educational and economic opportunities for people in underrepresented communities. The grants provide opportunities to design and align education and training to respond to regional and state labor market needs through accelerated learning pathways. 

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