Jun. 14—FAIRMONT — North Central West Virginia is home to several major health care agencies and they share a similar problem — they need workers.

Tuesday morning, Mon Health System, WVU Medicine, Highland-Clarksburg Hospital and William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital joined together at Pierpont Community & Technical College's Advanced Technology Center to host a job fair.

Led by officials from the Region VI Workforce Development Board, which works to bridge the gap between state and federal programs and the local individuals and businesses who benefit from them, the job fair focused on high-demand jobs.

The idea for the job fair came about when Tracey Kennedy, an outreach coordinator with Region VI, was contacted by an official from the West Virginia Hospital Association who asked about holding a hiring event to fill open positions.

"We bounced back from the pandemic in the workforce, but companies — especially in health care — have added tons of new jobs, even more than what was available before the pandemic and there's a huge need for health care in the state."

The Region VI office helps individuals acquire certifications and training necessary for in-demand careers. Be it through networking, funding or just a point in the right direction.

"Right now, health care is where we're seeing the biggest demand in terms of open positions and needing qualified workers," Kennedy said.

Several factors are leading to this uptick in hiring demand among health care workers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care systems were stretched to their breaking points. This led to many workers on the front lines of these institutions leaving the profession for lower-stress environments.

This was coupled with a large majority of the workforce reaching retirement age as well as post-pandemic expansion making for major numbers of job openings.

Manning the Mon Health table was Lotoya Henry-Ojugbana, the company's assistant director of talent acquisition. She said open positions range from registered nurses and lab techs to housekeepers and food service.

"It's a wide range," she said. "In every type of role there is a position that needs filled. ... With everything going on, we're still open, we're trying to be creative and think of different ways to fill the needs of our patients and families."

Institutions such as Pierpont and Fairmont State University have taken advantage of federal and state dollars allocated to expand programs to train health care personnel.

Late last year, Fairmont and Pierpont signed an articulation agreement to help streamline training for health care students at both institutions to get them into the workforce where they're needed most.

Fairmont State has boasted a strong partnership with Mon Health and the two work in close coordination to fill important positions.

While strides are being made to fill in the gaps within the health care networks, these partnerships are just the start of what it will take to make sure all the positions that need filling are filled.

"We have to make sure that we are open to opportunities to share," Henry-Ojugbana said. "With a lot of students here we find that they want to leave the area so we're really trying to encourage people to stay in West Virginia and take advantage of all the opportunities in the health care system."

Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.