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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
Polk County News Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 30, 2016 13A Rodgers: Hospital ‘most rewarding’ work Continued from A1 “I also think the affiliation with OHSU eventually will prove to provide us with a lot of opportunity,” Rodgers said. With just a little more than a month in the new job, Rodgers still is getting to know the Dallas community and West Valley organiza- tion. He said the hospital is in a strong position and has a healthy relationship with Salem Health. “The investment that West Valley has seen from Salem Health in the last five to seven years has been pretty significant, and has really helped bring the hos- pital in a lot of areas, into state of the art,” he said, adding his primary purpose is to keep West Valley in that position. Before taking the West Valley job, Rodgers was an administrator in surgical services at Salem Health Meet Bruce JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer Bruce Rodgers talks with a Salem Health West Valley employee during a staff meeting on Friday. Rodgers took the position of hospital administrator in February. and, previous to that, the di- rector of human resources. He began his health care ca- reer about seven years ago, making a switch from the telecom industry. “Once I connected into health care, into the hospi- tal setting, I knew it was something I didn’t want to leave. It was the most re- warding work of my life, for Education: Bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Melon University in Pitts- burgh and Master’s from Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University’s joint health care MBA program. Hometown: Pittsburgh, Penn. Favorite Sports teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, Pitt Panthers and Portland Trail Blazers. Hobbies: Cross Fit workouts, volleyball, hiking and spending time out- doors. Family: Three dogs, a Chihuahua mix, a cocker spaniel mix and a big, lufy Alaskan malamute. sure,” he said. Rodgers said he had al- ways strived to provide good customer service and offer employees the best work en- vironment, but in health care, that means much more. “In health care you are able to help people and able to contribute to the better- ment of their life,” he said. “There are people who are very mission-driven. They understand, at the end of the day, your focus is on what is in the best interest of the patient." So far, that’s what he’s seen at West Valley, and be- lieves it is his job to contin- ue to foster that environ- ment. “I just see a lot of top- notch people who are very dedicated to providing these services,” he said. At this point, Rodgers is still in the “listening and learning” stage, something he believes is critical to keeping the hospital moving forward. “I want to make good de- cisions,” he said. “I want to really tap into the wisdom that is already here.” Career, technical education emerging focus in Dallas By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — With the approval of the facility maintenance bond last year, Dallas School District found itself with resources to design a “career and technical education” program of its own. Bond money gives the district an opportunity to remodel its facil- ities to provide space for the pro- gram, which would teach students skills to industry standards in fields such as building and manu- facturing. Now the district is wanting feed- back from businesses, students and the community on what should be included. “What we are trying to do is wrap our arms around what this should look like,” said Dallas Su- perintendent Michelle Johnstone at a recent joint meeting between the district and the city of Dallas. District and city officials have spent time in Salem touring Salem-Keizer Public Schools Ca- reer Technical Education Center, which opened this school year with two programs, residential construction and commercial manufacturing. More programs will be introduced in the coming years. About 10 students already had businesses offer them jobs — be- fore graduation — and Salem-Keiz- er district officials say that number could increase significantly follow- ing a job fair slated for May. Salem’s program has been tout- ed as a model for what Dallas wants to develop. “That’s a leg up that I feel we in this community need to provide for our students,” said Dallas City Manager Ron Foggin. “It really shined a light on what we need to be working at for our community, for our kids.” Dallas School Board member Mike Bollman said the tour left him encouraged about what his district could develop. “I came away from that so com- pletely energized, knowing that that is possible in Dallas,” he said. “And it’s going to happen.” Mike Blanchard, also a board member, said Salem’s center was the product of partnerships with business that could foresee a need for more workers with a certain set of skills. He said in order for a pro- gram to work in Dallas, similar partnerships would be needed. “What are the occupations that are in demand here in Dallas?” Blanchard said. “I think that we should keep in mind that we have a few large employers here in town. We have a lot of small em- ployers. If we are wanting to help them, let’s think about what skills are really in demand there.” Chelsea Metcalfe, the executive director of the Dallas Area Cham- ber of Commerce, said she believes area businesses would be interest- ed in helping teach students not only skills for industry, but also “soft skills.” Workers with soft skills are those who understand what it means to LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Ben Stange shows Central sophomore Adriana Avila how to poten- tially save a life during Central High School’s career fair on March 11. be dependable, know how to solve problems and communicate well on the job. “I think that is what the commu- nity has been screaming about for the last several years, and this is the best way to answer all of those concerns,” Metcalfe said. “How do we get kids developed in some type of trade field or at least know- ing lots of different things?” Metcalfe agrees with Blanchard in that what is developed needs to have a strong local focus. That is true of all “workforce” programs, said Metcalfe, who has been appointed to the board of di- rectors of Incite, a nonprofit work- force development agency working in Polk, Marion, Yamhill and Linn counties. “We might only be over the river from Salem, but it’s a completely different dynamic in the people, and how the community and how employers work,” Metcalfe said. Johnstone presented a draft de- velopment timeline for the CTE planning Monday that has the dis- trict gathering feedback through the spring. The timeline has a draft plan to the school board by this summer and program implemen- tation beginning in early 2017. A CTE program may not be the only opportunity for the district to prepare students for careers. Morrison Alternative Campus Principal Brian Green has been working with students and local businesses to put together an in- ternship program with local needs in mind. Green said in talking with stu- dents, he found they were strug- gling to find jobs they were quali- fied to do. “They really lacked that volun- teer, that intern experience — the resume builders — to show the ex- perience,” Green said. Green said a number of Morri- son students take job skills assess- ments required for earning a Na- tional Career Readiness Certificate. The certificate has four levels which measure a worker’s profi- ciency in on-the-job skills. He said a number of businesses in Polk County have agreed to give those with certificates of a certain level preferential treatment when apply- ing for a job. Now he’s looking for those busi- nesses to give students a six-week, unpaid internship as something of an on-the-job interview. If the rela- tionship works out in the initial time period, Green is hoping that translates into a summer job. “It does two things. No. 1 it pro- vides jobs for students,” he said. “It also provides the experience nec- essary to help them be mar- ketable.” The program holds benefits for employers, too. “It will decrease the amount of time and effort it takes to train,” he said. “There will be less retraining, and I think they would find that turnover would decrease, too. See next week’s issue of the Item- izer-Observer to take a look at more on the economy. IMAGINE Our Communities without our LOCAL NEWSPAPER! Thank the businesses who advertise in the Itemizer-Observer. without them... AAAAAH! I n t e r e s t e d i n a d v e r t i s i n g ? C a l l 5 0 3 - 6 2 3 - 2 3 7 3
