BATON ROUGE, LA – As part of its ongoing efforts to create health equity, Louisiana Healthcare Connections presented two Louisiana Community & Technical College System (LCTCS) schools with $500k each to fund a larger program focused on eliminating health disparities and establishing a more inclusive, representative healthcare system.

The “Equity in Health & Care” initiative launched with Bossier Parish Community College and Delgado Community College. Checks presented to the schools will fund a three-year commitment to enhance curriculum for students and to serve as a pipeline for much-needed, skilled health workers.

“Our mission at Louisiana Healthcare Connections is to transform Louisiana’s health and to advance health equity for our Medicaid beneficiaries,” says Jamie Schlottman, CEO & plan president. “We are committed to supporting innovations, partnerships and collaborations in our communities that seek to eliminate social, economic and educational disparities.”

As part of their commitment, Louisiana Healthcare Connections is making a multi-year investment to enhance and expand medical billing and coding, community health, and telehealth curricula at Delgado Community College and Bossier Parish Community College. The Health & Equity Scholarships will aid students in financial need as well as support Medicaid recipients who wish to pursue higher education but face financial barriers.

“Our state’s healthcare system suffers from a lack of skilled workers for administrative, operational, and allied positions,” notes Rick Bateman, chancellor of Bossier Parish Community College. “This partnership with Louisiana Healthcare Connections will not only take advantage of curriculum specifically designed to meet the ever-evolving needs of the healthcare industry, but it will also provide additional skills to an often-overlooked segment of our workforce—Medicaid recipients.”

“This scholarship program will accelerate Louisiana’s ability to deliver healthcare to those most in need by those who have, themselves, experienced disparities in health, education and employment,” says Dr. Larissa Littleton-Steib, chancellor of Delgado Community College. “We are proud to partner with Louisiana Healthcare Connections on healthcare workforce development to address long-standing health disparities in a sustainable way.”