Overview

In Lancaster County, healthcare is one of seven industry clusters with significant local competitive advantages. Within the healthcare cluster, long-term care is a vertically-integrated segment that has a major competitive advantage as long term care providers in the county are widely regarded to provide some of the highest quality care in the state, if not the whole country. Founded in 2000, the Lancaster County Center of Excellence in Long Term Care Practice (COE-LTC) was organized to focus on critical factors needed to maintain that competitive advantage for long term care employers across the County.

The COE-LTC has brought together long term care facilities, home health agencies, hospitals, assisted living/personal care facilities, hospice, government agencies, nonprofit agencies and educational institutions to collaborate on solutions to pressing issues faced by employers, including:

• attracting and retaining qualified workers, and reducing turnover
• continually developing incumbent worker skills and knowledge
• maintaining adequate supply of trained workers to meet regional demand

Representatives ranging from administrators to direct care workers from over 20 organizations form a Steering Committee which assesses regional employer workforce needs, reviews and shares best practices, investigates existing options, selects, pilots and evaluates programs on a small scale, then works with educational institutions, CareerLink and subject matter experts to implement county-wide initiatives to address the collective needs.

By working together in partnership, all members of the group have benefited from research-based, state-of-the-industry programs and best practices that have been carefully monitored and evaluated to ensure they meet the outcomes defined by the members of the group. Major funding for these initiatives is provided by the PA Department of Labor and Industry with program and financial management supplied by the Workforce Investment Board of Lancaster County. Our firm belief is that by working collaboratively, we can "raise all ships" and provide opportunities and programs that would be cost-prohibitive for individual employers to pursue on their own.

Available Resources for Download

• 2007 Annual Report
• Industry Report
  
• Jobs by Occupation
• Location Quotient - Shift/Share
• Lancaster County Center of Excellence in Long Term Care Practice Poster
• Staffing Patterns