“Bridging the educational needs of the emerging healthcare professional…”

The vision for the Notre Dame Educational Bridge Center (NDEBC) is to create a lasting culture of learning and growth, where all individuals are provided the opportunity and guidance to attain their career dreams . The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur invested $376,000 in building an on-site educational center, complete with a computer lab, within the Notre Dame du Lac assisted living facility in Worcester, MA to help bring about this vision.

NDEBC was first established to bridge the educational needs of entry-level workers within the Intercare Alliance. The Intercare Alliance is a consortium of eleven long-term care facilities in Worcester that joined forces in order to address two pressing needs in long term care.

•  A shortage of licensed nurses.

Through financial support from a Massachusetts Extended Care Career Ladder Initiative (ECCLI) grant and the Intercare Alliance, the Notre Dame Educational Bridge Center has created an innovative career advancement program designed to address these needs by offering :

•  A Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Career Ladder program enabling entry-level employees to add skills and increase their wages.

•  College prerequisite and co-requisite courses to prepare students for entry into Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) college programs, as well as free tuition and books once admitted.

•  Customized career coaching and tutoring sessions to ensure that employees reach their individualized goals.

Through the Notre Dame Educational Bridge Center, the Intercare Alliance is “growing its own nurses.”

Our tutors are volunteers who offer their knowledge and experience. Some of our volunteers who currently participate as such are: Sr. Helen Wright, Sr. Rosemary Fay, Sr. Mary Walsh, and Sr. Madeline MacKonigall. We welcome volunteers to fill a variety of needs from Administrative Assistance, Marketing and Fund Raising help to tutoring English, Algebra, Computer and Life Sciences.

NDEBC is still in a formative stage as we build on our current success. We face challenges in finding the right mix of funding so that we can further develop our educational offerings to help entry level workers develop the academic skills which may lead them to other related healthcare professions, such as Biotechnology, Radiologic Technology, Respiratory Care, Surgical Technology, Medical Assistance and Occupational Therapy. In addition to our current offerings, our goal is to provide basic programming such as Basic Math/ English, Reading/Study Skills, Listening/Note Taking, Thinking/Reasoning, and advanced courses such as Algebra, Biology, Composition, Chemistry, Humanities, Computer and Pharmacological Math to build the bridge toward full academic matriculation at area colleges. Educational counseling and tutoring bind the girders toward this goal. Our programs will be targeted for disadvantaged groups who otherwise may never get the academic and emotional support necessary to succeed in formal academic training, with which they may be set on the way to achieving family-sustaining wages in a new profession. Since the Spring of 2004, NDEBC has served over 200 individuals along some point in their academic path.

There are two staff members at NDEBC: Director, Josanna B. Hazen and ECCLI Program Coordinator, Miriam Netzer. If you would like to help, please call us at (508) 852-1589. We are located at 555 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605

Our mission:

Notre Dame Educational Bridge Center, an integral part of Notre Dame Healthcare, Inc., provides the education and support for the emerging healthcare professional to successfully undertake higher education, in any of the related healthcare fields, to meet current demands for qualified and competent workers.”