Grace Health recently recognized Ben Cilley and Anisa Santiago for successfully completing Grace Health’s Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program and receiving certification as a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA).
Grace Health’s Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program is provided through a partnership with Career Step and Michigan Works. Career Step, an online provider of career-focused education and professional training, provides online training for Grace Health employees who would like to become medical assistants. Michigan Works provides services and support to Michigan’s workforce development system. Grace Health provides the tools for people to become successful and Michigan Works and the YOU (Youth Opportunities Unlimited) Program will try to help them get a paying job.
It takes Grace Health staff 6 – 7 months to complete the program and be eligible to take the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) national certification exam. The Grace Health Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program offers class time as well as hands-on training and clinical experience all designed to equip employees to function as medical assistants. During training, staff are being paid an hourly wage and receive benefits – making it the only medical assistant training program in our area in which people are paid while they learn. There are 10 staff members participating in the current Medical Assistant Apprenticeship Program. The next program will begin in October 2019.
Grace Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center and has been serving Calhoun County since 1986, providing care to 1 in 4 County residents. Just over 133,000 services were provided in 2018 for almost 32,000 patients, averaging about 500 new patients each month. Approximately 66% of patients seen at Grace Health either have Medicaid or are uninsured. Grace Health employs just over 340 staff.
(left to right) Dr. Peter Chang, Ben Cilley, and Anisa Santiago