CNA school founded by Twin Cities nurse celebrates 1st graduating class

By Reg Chapman

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A certified nursing assistant school designed to combat the shortage in health care workers is celebrating a major milestone Friday.

WCCO introduced you to Latasha Lee last December, as she was looking for students for her school. Now, she’s graduating her first students from Healthy Helpful Insight Healthcare Institute.

For Lee, this is the day she has been dreaming about. The first graduating class of the school she founded.

These 16 students went through a six-week course teaching them basic skill care for patients.

“The first five weeks is just in the classroom, in the skills lab, and then on week five I take the students to a long-term care facility,” said Lee.

Now they enter the workforce to help combat the growing need for health care workers.

“Currently there is a shortage of 23,000 caregivers and that’s CNAs, PCAs, home health care aides. So my wish is to try to help combat that deficit. And each year that number grows,” said Lee.

Lee also wants to increase diversity in the workforce.

“This school is special. Have you ever known a school that provides you excellent training and guaranteed employment when you are finished?” said graduate Neely.

“We have three employers that are part of the collaborative that I am involved in and they interview the students on the first day of class. The students decide which employer they want to go with and then on week five the employers come back to interview and then after they take their certification exams they go to work, ” Lee said.

This is not only a celebration for these students, but them reaching their goal is also the fulfillment of a promise Lee made to her sister.

“My sister and I had a dream to start a CNA school together,” Lee said.

Subrina Mays, her sister, was diagnosed with lupus in 1999 and died in 2009.

“Before she passed, she made me promise that I would still open the school, so I have a strong desire for health care and community, but then there is also a really passionate component because the goal and the dream is connected to my sister,” Lee said.

Now she is a lifelong mentor to these graduates, many of whom are now taking nursing classes, furthering their careers in the health care field.

The Medica Foundation provided grants to help make classes financially possible for many in this graduating class.

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