In a broader story on Milwaukee's evolution away from a
manufacturing-based economy, the writer uses Aurora's training programs
and philosophy as an example of where the future lies.
Some hospitals and nursing homes do offer a chance for
advancement, including Aurora Health Care, the big Milwaukee-based
nonprofit with 13 hospitals, more than 100 clinics and 140 community
pharmacies in eastern Wisconsin. But it's not like the old
industrial economy when employees made a good living doing the same
job for 20 years and then retired, says Aurora's chief executive, Ed
Howe.
"The economy we have now...is knowledge-based and so the
rewards are different," he says. Aurora's thousands of CNAs
typically earn $18,000 to $27,000 a year while about 700 doctors
typically earn $240,000 and a handful make $700,000.
Aurora gives entry-level employees opportunities to advance
through in-house training programs and tuition reimbursement, which
is one reason Ms. Williams has sought work there, unsuccessfully.
Demand for the programs significantly exceeds the available space.
Aurora's Abraham Pacheco is one of the lucky ones. His parents
were born in Puerto Rico. His mother never went to college, and
works in a car dealership. His father didn't finish high school and
speaks little English, but worked several factory jobs before ending
up on disability. "They had just enough to pay the bills and feed
all four of us. They got by. We were happy," says Mr. Pacheco, 20.
His first steady job after high school was earning $9.20 an hour
in the kitchen at Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center. He had his eye
on a better job: surgical technologist, a person who helps prepare
operating rooms and assist during surgery. At Aurora, that pays
$16.50 to $25.41 per hour.
To get the promotion, Mr. Pacheco needed formal training. When
operations used just a clamp, retractor and a scalpel, surgical
techs could quickly learn all they needed on the job. Now that they
must work with surgical machines costing $1 million or more, they
need formal training. Mr. Pacheco enrolled in college but was bored
because the classes didn't seem to have anything to do with his
career.
Then he learned Aurora was training entry-level employees to
become surgical technologists and, with federal assistance, paying
them $10 an hour to attend the nine-month program. He graduated in
December and now works in an operating room at St. Luke's. Finishing
an arterial graft, he displays the notes he took of the surgeon's
operating idiosyncrasies that he'll use the next time. "I thank God
I got this job," he says.
Most entry-level workers won't be so blessed, even at Aurora.
There were 200 applications for the 20 spots in Aurora's
surgical-tech program.
