Saint Luke's Hospital in Duluth has partnered with Lake Superior College to offer hospital employees on–the–job training.

LSC received a 300–thousand dollar grant to make hospital experiences better for both patients and employees.
LeAnn Wallace has more.

The Minnesota Job Skills Partnership awarded Lake Superior College the grant to implement a "Lean Healthcare" training system throughout Saint Luke's.

"It's extremely patient–driven, so the staff looks through the patients eyes and says, 'where are the delays; where are the things that make us inefficient; what can we do to make the process better for the patient?'"

Saint Luke's is one of the regions largest health care systems, with over 2200 employees.

The training program is lead by L–S–C faculty along with community health care experts.

"64 employees at Saint Luke's have already completed the program and are using what they've learned throughout the work day."

"What we've seen is that 'LEAN' gives people a standard way of making processing improvements. It's been applied in nursing, in the lab, in the pharmacy, in our clinics."

Steve Wagner, Vice President of Workforce and Community Development at L–S–C, says continuing education is a key factor in a successful workplace.

"What they maybe did five years ago and what they use for technology has changed, so obviously they're continuing to upgrade the skills of their workforce and that's what we bring to the table.

Saint Luke's goal is to have 500 employees complete the training and teach the remaining employees an abbreviated version of the program.
In Duluth, LeAnn Wallace, the Northlands News Center.

The grant will allow about 200 additional Saint Luke's employees to receive on–site job training.