Courtesy of Fayetteville State University
Fayetteville State University (FSU) and Cape Fear Valley Health (CFVH) are joining forces to help address a critical workforce shortage by developing current and future talent to strengthen Cape Fear Valley’s capacity to deliver exceptional care to the burgeoning population in southeastern North Carolina.
The initiative – Growing Regionally Optimized Workforce Talent-Healthcare, or GROWTH – aims to help CFVH address growing patient needs and bolster its workforce while creating opportunities for FSU students to gain valuable training and experience for their future career path. Together, FSU and CFVH will boost the pipeline of highly qualified individuals entering the workforce and build Cape Fear Valley’s capacity to recruit, hire, and retain talent to meet its ongoing staffing needs.
“Fayetteville State University is dedicated to creating exemplary learning opportunities for our students and to improving the wellbeing of our community, region, state and beyond,” said FSU Chancellor Darrell T. Allison. “Our partnership with CFVH will contribute substantially to that goal and invests significantly in our most valuable resource – our people. The Fayetteville area is a thriving, dynamic region of opportunity for education, families, professionals, businesses and commerce. As economic and public service drivers in the Sandhills region and southeastern North Carolina, GROWTH is more than a collaboration – it’s our mission.”
FSU currently partners with more than 100 regional and national employers to offer paid internship opportunities to students as part of the university’s focus on career readiness. FSU students have secured more than 240 paid internships to date with a goal of at least 750 paid internship participants by 2024. GROWTH will move that goal forward significantly and reinforce the university’s commitment to career readiness for its graduates. “To be clear, our partnership with CFVH has less to do about internships and more about ensuring that our most talented and brightest graduates remain in the Sandhills region becoming a potential new employee of Cape Fear Valley Health,” said Chancellor Allison.
“Cape Fear Valley Health is committed to providing exceptional care to our patients both in clinical and non-clinical services,” said Cape Fear Valley CEO Michael Nagowski. “GROWTH will play a major role in addressing a critical workforce shortage and help us recruit, hire, and retain skilled professionals right here in our own backyard. It’s a win-win for Cape Fear Valley and FSU, and we are fortunate to have such a strong partner to help us better serve our citizens.”
Cape Fear Valley Health is one of many prestigious FSU intern employers that also include Blue Cross Blue Shield, ABC News, Apple, the Coastal Resilience Center, Cumberland County, Dell, Deloitte, the Department of Homeland Security, Disney, FedEx, IQVA, Lenovo, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASCAR, NFL, Red Hat, SAS Institute Inc. and State Employees Credit Union, among others.
As the largest, preeminent, healthcare provider in the greater Fayetteville region, Cape Fear Valley Health employs more than 7,400 people and completes over a million patient encounters per year. With almost 7,000 highly diverse and talented students, FSU is well-positioned to assist CFVH in meeting its needs. Many of FSU’s degree programs are ranked among the nation’s best for excellence and affordability and the University was recently ranked #1 nationally for accessibility and affordability among high quality, highly accredited institutions.
GROWTH key goals:
1) Increase training opportunities for students in FSU’s highly regarded Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program via clinical rotations at Cape Fear Valley Health.
2) Provide internships to boost the pipeline of well-qualified students available to meet non-clinical staffing needs with an aspirational goal of 100 or more by 2027.
3) Provide CFVH tuition assistance and other support to help system nurses and other employees build their skills via FSU programs, training and course work. FSU’s completely online RN-BSN degree program is highly sought after.
4) Offer FSU classes at CFVH facilities to enable and expedite training for current CFVH employees and expand FSU student understanding of the Cape Fear Valley Health.
