AccentCare Creates New Employee Benefits, Partners with Two Universities

Post-acute care company AccentCare is partnering with two universities to foster educational opportunities for employees seeking to advance their careers.

The company is working with Chamberlain University and Walden University to offer new benefits to staff. Chamberlain has 23 campuses in 15 states, whereas Walden offers courses online. AccentCare indicated in a press release that they expect the partnerships to help them attract talent who will remain with the organization for the long term.

“The new partnership with Chamberlain University and Walden University will provide a pathway for current and future AccentCare employees to reach their career goals through education,” AccentCare CEO Stephan Rodgers said in the release. “We will be offering this exciting new program organization-wide, and we look forward to the promising possibilities this venture with Chamberlain and Walden Universities brings.”

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The new benefits will include tuition savings, waived application fees, and the ability to start classes at several points during the year.

Both universities are components of Chicago-based Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE), which operates institutions for higher learning throughout the United States and in the Caribbean island of St. Martin.

“At Chamberlain University we strive to provide access to education to any type of student, whether it’s someone first in their family to attend college or someone advancing their degree, and we also strive to support their journey along the way to help them be the most successful,” Chamberlain President Karen Cox said in a statement. 

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Dallas-headquartered AccentCare delivers hospice to upwards of 40,000 patients annually through more than 80 hospice locations and 27 in-patient care centers. The company also offers care management, home health, palliative care, rehabilitation, skilled nursing, telehealth, non-medical, and personal care services.

All told, AccentCare operates more than 260 locations across 31 states and the District of Columbia.

Partnerships with colleges and universities are a growing trend among hospices, as are in-house fellowships, driven by widespread workforce shortages.

Hospice of Southern Maine recently developed a tuition reimbursement program to encourage workers to pursue training to become registered nurses or certified nursing assistants.

Home health and hospice provider LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG) invested $20 million in the nursing school at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Distribution of the funds began last year and will be incremental through 2031.

A number of universities have independently developed new programs focused on hospice, palliative care, goals-of-care conversations, and other home-based health services, including the University of New Mexico, the University of Nebraska, the University of Arizona, and the University of Maryland.

A lack of awareness or misconceptions about hospice palliative care is a major barrier to growing both the workforce in those fields and patient utilization. This includes many clinicians in other specialties.

Nearly 86% percent of adults in the United States have little to no knowledge of palliative care, according to a 2021 study.

“Walden University is pleased to partner with AccentCare to provide additional educational opportunities to its employees and expose them to higher learning in the healthcare field,” said Sue Subocz, provost of Walden University. “We recognize the life-changing effects education can have on an individual’s journey, and our partnership with AccentCare represents Walden’s commitment to advancing learning experiences for all types of student populations.”

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