Medical front-office training program available
Many Lee County residents are working at low-skill, low-pay jobs. Some feel there’s not much out there in the way of opportunity.
However, these workers may be eligible to take advantage of a cost-free career training program in the medical front office field to help increase their pay and get them out of poverty.
The award-winning, seven-month Lee Education and Employment Program starts Oct. 14. Telephone application interviews are being accepted now through Oct. 10.
Marti Mills, program coordinator, said the program got started when a co-worker noticed there were a lot of people coming in for government assistance for a variety of things.
“One of the women saw that the same people were coming in and thought it would be nice to do something to change that,” Mills said. “She developed this program to train people quickly at a skill that would get them higher wages and benefits and get them off government assistance.”
This career training is funded by a federal Community Services Block Grant and realized through the Lee County Department of Human Services. The grant gives people with low-income and/or low-skill levels the opportunity to raise their wages with an upwardly mobile career at the front desk of a medical facility or doctor’s office.
Mills said many people who come from jobs where they make minimum wage can expect to start at $12 an hour without experience.
“We tend to double their wages. They start making $10,000 a year and end up making $22,000 or more,” Mills said. “It allows them to care for their families.”
The medical office skills certificate program provides instruction in keyboarding, computer applications, medical and dental terminology, medical front office procedures, HIPAA regulations, basic medical billing and coding, and electronic medical records.
Students also receive instruction and assistance with resume writing, interview skills and job searching. The L.E.E. Program covers all costs for tuition and books and can assist with childcare fees during class.
Graduation will be held in May 2015. All students will receive one year of intensive case management with a L.E.E. Program coordinator.
Qualified students are accepted into the program on a first-come, first-served basis and classes fill quickly.
There is a maximum of 20 students per class. Mills said her last class resulted in 85 percent of them getting work in a medical office and raising their income.
“Our program has a great reputation in the medical community and they know we push them to do well and become good employees when they get out,” Mills said.
All applicants must be working; provide proof of earned income or unemployment compensation, high school diploma or GED, and Lee County residency. Students must also pass a criminal background check and a basic assessment in reading, language and spelling.
Successful applicants must also have reliable transportation to the classes held Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. at Fort Myers Institute of Technology, 3800 Michigan Ave., Fort Myers. The program won a 2001 National Association of Counties Achievement Award for employment and training and was the only county program in the United States to win a 2002 Public Service Excellence Award.
“People are struggling and may not know the pathway to get out of it and this program provides that to them,” Mills said. “It’s not giving them a fish, it’s teaching them to fish.”
Contact Mills at 533-7933 for a telephone screening to determine eligibility.
Medical front-office training program available
Many Lee County residents are working at low-skill, low-pay jobs. Some feel there’s not much out there in the way of opportunity.
However, these workers may be eligible to take advantage of a cost-free career training program in the medical front office field to help increase their pay and get them out of poverty.
The award-winning, seven-month Lee Education and Employment Program starts Oct. 14. Telephone application interviews are being accepted now through Oct. 10.
Marti Mills, program coordinator, said the program got started when a co-worker noticed there were a lot of people coming in for government assistance for a variety of things.
“One of the women saw that the same people were coming in and thought it would be nice to do something to change that,” Mills said. “She developed this program to train people quickly at a skill that would get them higher wages and benefits and get them off government assistance.”
This career training is funded by a federal Community Services Block Grant and realized through the Lee County Department of Human Services. The grant gives people with low-income and/or low-skill levels the opportunity to raise their wages with an upwardly mobile career at the front desk of a medical facility or doctor’s office.
Mills said many people who come from jobs where they make minimum wage can expect to start at $12 an hour without experience.
“We tend to double their wages. They start making $10,000 a year and end up making $22,000 or more,” Mills said. “It allows them to care for their families.”
The medical office skills certificate program provides instruction in keyboarding, computer applications, medical and dental terminology, medical front office procedures, HIPAA regulations, basic medical billing and coding, and electronic medical records.
Students also receive instruction and assistance with resume writing, interview skills and job searching. The L.E.E. Program covers all costs for tuition and books and can assist with childcare fees during class.
Graduation will be held in May 2015. All students will receive one year of intensive case management with a L.E.E. Program coordinator.
Qualified students are accepted into the program on a first-come, first-served basis and classes fill quickly.
There is a maximum of 20 students per class. Mills said her last class resulted in 85 percent of them getting work in a medical office and raising their income.
“Our program has a great reputation in the medical community and they know we push them to do well and become good employees when they get out,” Mills said.
All applicants must be working; provide proof of earned income or unemployment compensation, high school diploma or GED, and Lee County residency. Students must also pass a criminal background check and a basic assessment in reading, language and spelling.
Successful applicants must also have reliable transportation to the classes held Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. at Fort Myers Institute of Technology, 3800 Michigan Ave., Fort Myers. The program won a 2001 National Association of Counties Achievement Award for employment and training and was the only county program in the United States to win a 2002 Public Service Excellence Award.
“People are struggling and may not know the pathway to get out of it and this program provides that to them,” Mills said. “It’s not giving them a fish, it’s teaching them to fish.”
Contact Mills at 533-7933 for a telephone screening to determine eligibility.