New Hanover Healthcare Career Partnership in North Carolina

Program Description:

New Hanover Healthcare Career Partnership in North Carolina is a collaborative effort of the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), Cape Fear Community College (CFCC), and New Hanover County Schools to create a pipeline of efforts beginning as early as fifth grade through college. The Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce (GWCC) partners with a broad network of healthcare employers to advance this multi-year effort. Together, they are building a “healthcare superhighway” that supports recruitment, training, and long-term retention in New Hanover County and across southeastern North Carolina.  

The program engages diverse learners and prepares them to enter the healthcare field as skilled, well-prepared, locally trained professionals. In turn, these professionals help meet regional workforce needs by delivering high-quality, culturally competent care. The program demonstrates how a collaborative partnership of organizations, taking a dynamic systems change approach, might develop solutions to meet some of the largest needs in the region’s economy.  

The New Hanover Community Endowment (The Endowment) invested $22.3 million into this collaborative as part of its efforts to improve health, education, safety, and economic opportunity in the county. The formal collaboration started in spring 2022 and began implementation in 2024 after securing funding. 

The idea for the partnership started with early conversations between a corporate board member of a local hospital and the GWCC to convene the partners; the UNCW Chancellor and selected trustees; the CFCC President and selected board members; and local business leaders. The group also reached out to include the school superintendent, a school board member, and county commissioners. This group transformed into the current working group of the President and CEO of the GWCC and academic deans and directors from the educational institutions discussing the best ways to recruit, train, and retain talent in the county. Working together this group moved the initial ideas from “we need more money for nursing student seats” to a more transformative model of systems change, involving every stage of the educational and career pipeline.  

The largest regional healthcare employer provided $2.5 million in scholarships to both CFCC and UNCW to make the degree pathways more accessible, especially for community college learners who otherwise might need to take on multiple jobs. UNCW also offered high school graduates from some of the pipeline programs who enrolled in the nursing degree program a $2,000 scholarship. These initial investments are expected to attract additional public and private funding, to increase program impact and create opportunities for broader collaborations. The program draws on other financial contributions and relies on its leaders going beyond their formal work responsibilities to maintain it. 

How It Works:

At the K-12 level, students build awareness and are exposed to healthcare careers as early as 5^th grade. The school district works with the GWCC to offer the Career Leadership Development Academy where all 7^th graders learn about and visit high-demand industries. High school students taking part in the school-based Health Science Academy or other pipeline programs go on campus tours of CFCC and UNCW’s Health and Human Services programs and visit the regional medical center to meet local employers and shadow professionals. County high schools all offer a Nursing Fundamentals Course required for the Certified Nursing Assistant certification. Learners enrolled in the high school health science pathway follow a sequence of up to four courses and complete an internship. UNCW also offers several summer programs for high school students to explore healthcare careers. 

The “Try Teal” program allows Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) students at CFCC to move toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) at UNCW. Program participants enroll in two Registered Nurse to BSN (RN to BSN) courses at UNCW without tuition or fees, saving students over $1,200. The program supplies all required books and materials and supports learners as they complete clinical training hours for certification.  

The “CFCC Connect” program allows pre-health students from UNCW to enroll in a short-term training program in either Nurse Aide, Phlebotomy, or Emergency Medical Services in order to earn a credential that will allow the learner to enter into the healthcare workforce in New Hanover County as they continue progressing through their primary program of study. The program supplies all required course costs and supports learners as they complete the training hours for certification. 

Both CFCC and UNCW cover the cost of the exams required for admission to nursing school and to become an LPN or RN, and WRAPS (Wrap-Around Program Supports) to help learners fill financial gaps while pursuing a healthcare degree. CFCC offers parents access to free childcare while they attend classes, labs, and other academic activities. The CFCC Foundation supports learners with these educational costs as well as providing emergency aid to address unforeseen financial challenges so they can continue in their programs. 

Impact:

UNCW is increasing the size of its nursing cohort and aims to produce 53 percent more nurses and to significantly increase the size of its simulation labs to help meet the need for additional clinical space needed to train the next generation of nurses and other healthcare professionals. From the time the university starts recruiting students until they complete the program and can enter the workforce can take up to seven years; that is when the true impact can and will be measured. While full results will take years to see, early signs show increased interest and participation in the program and significantly more alumni remaining locally after graduation. CFCC has more than doubled their nursing programs including the Associate Degree Nursing, LPN to ADN, and the Practical Nursing. CFCC also now has a dual admission process enrolling students in the Associate Degree Nursing program both in the fall and spring semesters.

The Career Leadership Development Academy started with 40 seventh grade students and now serves all 1,800 7th graders in the district, with the first cohort now close to graduating from high school. Admissions into the nursing programs for both UNCW and CFCC are increasing by more than 50 percent. Nearly every nursing seat at both schools is filled with a 3:1 ratio of applicants to seats available. CFCC graduation rates in these fields have increased from 50 percent to over 76 percent since they started offering wraparound services putting more students into the local nursing workforce. The retention rate is even higher for students receiving wrap around services at 94 percent. Additionally, the number of students achieving CNA certification at CCFC rose from 95 students in 2023 to 224 students in 2025.  

Since the program began, UNCW has more than doubled the percentage of graduates placed in local positions from 27 percent to 56 percent. Hospitals have doubled the number of local nurse graduates they hired from 60 to 200 in 2025, allowing them to reduce their use of travel nurses. Going forward, the program plans to share data across institutions and create better data tracking systems.