Published: July 18, 2008 09:42 pm         

MSU hosts employer summit

By Fred Pace

Register-Herald Reporter

Ted Weigel, director of marketing and business development at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital, says the hospital looks to Mountain State University to help supply it with nurses, respiratory therapists and many other clinical specialty personnel.

“All of these health care jobs are in critical short supply all over the country,” Weigel said. “Local schools with programs that teach these skills are of tremendous value to us.”

Beckley ARH was one of several employers to attend Friday’s Employer Summit hosted by MSU’s School of Leadership and Professional Development.

“This is our second annual employer summit,” said Dr. Ruth Wylie, an associate dean for the leadership school. “We want to make sure our programs are current and meeting the needs of the community.”

Dr. William White, dean of the school, says closing the gap between what is learned in the classroom and what graduates actually face in the real world is the challenge.

“That’s our challenge,” he said. “We teach them theory and then teach them how to take that and apply it to real life.”

White says the goal is to minimize retraining.

“When I was in private industry, the complaint was always that the system was not meeting the needs,” he said. “Private industry is still spending millions of dollars training new people after they have left their college studies.”

White says MSU wants to be a resource for employers.

“We can best do this by sharing information, opinions and challenges,” he said.

Weigel says MSU has done an excellent job supplying the needs of local businesses.

“They started the first certified registered nurse anesthetist program in the region,” Weigel said. “The only other one in the state is at Charleston Area Medical Center and they never seem to produce enough candidates. CRNAs are harder to find than doctors.”

Weigel said three recent MSU graduates have been recruited to work at Beckley ARH.

“We want MSU to continue with its focus on health care-related training,” Weigel said. “The need is always going to be there.”

— E-mail: fpace@register-herald.com