Training Equipment Helps Strengthen Cortez’s Health Care Workforce

Cortez and Montezuma County continue to face health care workforce shortages. Hospitals, clinics, and other providers struggle to hire trained medical assistants, a problem that has been exacerbated by limited local medical training in southwest Colorado. To fill in the gaps, staff with the Southwestern Colorado Area Health Education Center came up with a solution: launch a new medical assistant training program alongside Southwest Health System and the Indian Health Service in Towaoc. Staff needed support getting the program off the ground, so they reached out to LOR. LOR’s funding will help the group purchase anatomical models and other equipment to support hands-on training, supplying local residents and medical facilities with much-needed skills.