Alleghany High School seniors (from left) William Carter, Zoe Berryman, and Brennon Mahon are enrolled in the Advanced Health Care Assistant program at Mountain Gateway Community College. After completing the one-year program, they will have clinical medical assistant and certified nurse aide certifications. (MGCC Photo)

Alleghany Highlands Public Schools and other school divisions are partnering with Mountain Gateway Community College for a pilot program at Mountain Gateway that provides high school seniors with comprehensive training for careers in the clinical medical assistant and certified nurse aide fields. It also provides students with training to cross over to more than 100 different fields in health care.

Alleghany Highlands Public Schools worked with Mountain Gateway Community College and other school divisions to help develop Advanced Health Care Professional as a Career and Technical Education Program.

This fall, which marks the first year of the program, Advanced Health Care has three AHPS students. Tiffany Rosales, the health care programs coordinator at Mountain Gateway Community College, intends to expand enrollment by getting the word out to schools within Mountain Gateway Community College’s coverage area that includes Bath County, Alleghany County, Rockbridge County, and the northern section of Botetourt County. 

Funding for Advanced Health Care is provided through FastForward, a grant program at Mountain Gateway that is designed to assist students in getting the necessary training they need for their chosen career field.

The Advanced Health Care program is part of Alleghany Highlands Healthcare Advancement, an initiative that is being funded by a $497,756 Career and Technical Education High School Innovation Grant from the Virginia Department of Education.