A health care group is looking to hire about 200 people to work in the Quad Cities. That's part of 1,000 new hires company wide.
UnityPoint Health Trinity will be hosting a hiring fair on Wednesday, October 21 in Rock Island. At Trinity College of Nursing and Health sciences in Rock Island, students are working hard towards a degree and one of many job openings once they graduate.
“Respiratory Therapists, Medical Assistants, CNAs. The need is definitely there," said Sarah Turner, UnityPoint Professional Recruiter.
UnityPoint Health Trinity has plenty of those openings now. In part, that's because a lot of nurses are retiring. But there are other reasons.
"We have more patients to take care of. The Affordable Care Act has allowed more people to be insured so we see more patients that way. We also have what we call the "Silver Tsunami" which is those baby boomers who need more health care," Turner explained.
Back at the college, classes are much more than just taking notes.
"The students are assisting with the employee vaccinations. We have the Public Health Department and so if they were giving shots we have in the past volunteered," said Christine Kessel, Trinity College Interim Dean of Nursing.
And if you start with an entry level type of job, there's plenty of room to move up while you keep working.
"One of the beauties that we do have being affiliated with the hospital is if they're employed by Trinity, they can also get reimbursement and financial help for their education," Kessel added.
One thing to remember is that there is a possible commitment to odd hours.
"Our ultimate thing is that our patients have to be taken care of and in a hospital setting we have patients 24 hours a day 7 days a week. But we compensate for that," Turner said.
The hiring fair runs from 4:30 to 7:30 Wednesday at Trinity College of Nursing and Health Sciences building in Rock Island. That fair is mostly for people who already have a nursing degree. A separate job fair for entry-level jobs will be held in November.