Hannibal Regional receives grant for apprenticeship program through Missouri Chamber Foundation

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Hannibal Regional recently announced it received a grant to help grow the local healthcare workforce. A new program through the Missouri Chamber Foundation will help meet the growing demand for health care workers by training up to 1,500 apprentices across the state.

In a press release, Dan Mehan, Missouri Chamber president and CEO, said, “This program will help create good-paying jobs and bolster apprenticeship training systems across the state. We are excited to partner with some of Missouri’s leading health systems to expand access to quality health care for all Missourians.”

Healthcare systems participating in the program are Hannibal Regional Healthcare System, BJC HealthCare, Cox Health, Jordan Valley Community Health Center, Mercy and University Health.

“We’ve seen a lot of challenges coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Todd Ahrens, president and CEO of Hannibal Regional Healthcare System. “Anything we can do to support bringing in bedside and clinical folks is a huge help to the health care system.”

Employers participating in the program will receive $2,000 for each apprentice they train in occupations such as:

• Medical assistant
• Surgical technician
• Pharmacy technician
• Phlebotomist
• Certified nursing assistant
• Medical coder
• Biomedical equipment technician
• Dental assistant
• EMT
• Radiology/CT technician

The goal is to train 1,500 apprentices across the state by January 2026 and transition more than 95 percent of those trained apprentices into permanent, full-time employees.

For more information about opportunities at Hannibal Regional, visit hannibalregional.org.