Government is funding 18 additional health-care assistant spaces at the College of New Caledonia campus in Quesnel.

“Our government is providing $153,000 in funding to the College of New Caledonia in response to the demand for more health-care assistants in the region,” said Advanced Education Minister Andrew Wilkinson after announcing the new spaces at the Quesnel campus of CNC. “Students can train in Quesnel, and then choose to stay and work in the Cariboo to support the health-care needs of their communities.”

Public post-secondary institutions in British Columbia are helping address the needs of the health system by making sure that students in the health-care professions have the skills and training they need to serve their communities well.

“This one-time funding demonstrates that our government is focused on finding the most effective way of funding health education to ensure that the supply of health-care workers is aligned with demand for health services in the community,” said Cariboo North MLA Coralee Oakes. “It is about aligning the health-care needs of the community with training – Cariboo communities benefit, and so does the taxpayer.”

One-time funding for short-duration health-education programs helps address the immediate needs of specific communities so that the supply of trained health-care workers is aligned with demand.

“The college is very pleased to receive this funding,” said CNC president Henry Reiser. “It will help ensure that College of New Caledonia students have the skills and training necessary to provide members of our communities with quality health care and assistance.”

The one-time funding, which is targeted at programs running for one year or less, was awarded after CNC answered a call for proposals from public post-secondary institutions. It is in addition to any regular-funded health-education spaces at the college.