Skip to content

ON DEMAND

Employer Spotlight: How Griffin Hospital Utilizes Education + Training to Tackle Staffing Shortages

Griffin Hospital is one of the few in the country that maintains its own School of Allied Health Careers to tackle staffing shortages, improve retention, and customize the curriculum to its training needs.

Phlebotomy and patient care technician certifications from National Healthcareer Association provide the learning resources and support to achieve the best results for Griffin Hospital employees and patients.

Tracy Huneke, a manager and course instructor at Griffin Hospital School of Allied Health Careers, said the in-house educational center, along with the certification credentialing programs through NHA, have been crucial in finding and retaining a well-trained and highly motivated staff.

Learn what Griffin Hospital did to ease healthcare recruiting challenges while driving quality.

Watch the Webinar Now

Host

Carla Hart

NHA Content Strategist

Speakers

Tracy Huneke

Manager of Griffin Hospital School of Allied Health Careers

Tracy A. Huneke is the manager of Griffin Hospital School of Allied Health Careers. She began her journey at Griffin Hospital in 2006 as an Emergency Room Technician. Tracy was promoted to the Department of Professional Development and Education where she implemented a certification program through NHA. Tracy opened the Griffin Hospital School of Allied Health Careers in 2009. Griffin Hospital has hired approximately 600 of their graduates. Today, 90% of their multi-skilled technicians are certified. Tracy was a key player in passing a CT law in 2017 that would allow certified phlebotomists to draw blood from a PIVO. Tracy has been a member of the NHA Certification Governing Board since 2015. Tracy resides in Naugatuck, CT with her husband of 31 years, and their two daughters. She enjoys painting, crafting, and spending time with family and friends.

Michele Derbyshire

Griffin Health Services Nursing Professional Development Specialist, Clinical Instructor & Recruiter Patient Care Technician Program

Michele Derbyshire MSN, RN received her BSN from the University of Scranton and her MSN from Southern Connecticut State University. Michele was staff nurse at Norwalk Hospital and Griffin Hospital and Clinical Adjunct Faculty at Sacred Heart University. Currently she’s the Patient Care Technician instructor at Griffin’s School of Allied Health Careers who develops and implements the teaching plan, coordinates student's externship and oversees and evaluates student's clinical competency; she’s also a Nurse Professional Development Specialist at Griffin Health and oversees onboarding of nursing staff, assists with training volunteers, implements the Student Nurse Intern program and co-chairs the Transition of Care program. Michele is an active member of Shared Governance and support committees, and has received ITIP and Mary Schumacher Award recognizing her leadership skills.

Subscribe to Our Blog

Learning + Leading: An NHA allied health industry blog for educators and employers.

Subscribe to Blog

Get Learning + Leading Notifications

Additional Text