Lleyna Gorka

When hospitals across the country were struggling to rebuild after COVID, Lleyna Gorka was focused on one central question, How do we bring more people into healthcare and help them stay?

As part of the clinical education team for Hospital Sisters Health System in Southern Illinois, Lleyna coordinates the new graduate nurse residency program, the CNA apprenticeship program, and a nursing internship program. She supports St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon and three additional hospitals in Breese, Highland, and Greenville. Her role sits at the intersection of workforce, education, and patient care, and apprenticeship has become one of her most important tools.

Why Registered Apprenticeship

St. Elizabeth’s began its CNA apprenticeship journey in 2021. The idea arrived through a phone call from Dr. Sulbrena Day of Midwest Career Source. She described a model where candidates would earn while they learned, attend CNA training on site at the hospital, and move directly into employment after completing the program.

At first, Lleyna was skeptical. It sounded almost too good to be true. But as Dr. Day met with the chief nursing officer and walked through each step of the partnership, it became clear that this was a real opportunity to solve real problems.

The hospital has long relied on traditional CNA pipelines. Community colleges such as Southwestern Illinois College and Kaskaskia College have years of proven experience training CNAs and have built strong programs that support student success, though each program has natural limits on how many learners it can serve at one time. At the same moment, the community was full of people who wanted to work in healthcare but could not afford to stop working to attend school or did not know how to navigate the process.

The apprenticeship model helped bridge that gap. Apprentices are hired by the hospital, paid while in class, and guaranteed a job upon successful completion. Training takes place on site, so candidates learn in the same building where they will eventually work. For many, it is the first time they can see a clear and attainable path into healthcare.

Immersion into Hospital Culture

Lleyna believes one of the strongest advantages of apprenticeship is the level of immersion it provides. Before they ever step into a classroom, apprentices attend new hire orientation at St. Elizabeth’s. They learn the mission, values, and expectations of the organization, meet staff, and walk the same halls they will work in later.

Throughout the program, they park where they will park as employees, pass the same nurses and physicians, and complete their clinical hours on the hospital units. They are not just visitors. They are part of the environment from day one.

Like all CNA trainees in Illinois, apprentices must complete at least forty hours of clinical time. The difference, Lleyna notes, is that apprentices are already woven into the fabric of the hospital by the time those hours begin. After completing training, they also receive an extended orientation period on the unit, longer and more structured than many new hires who come in from outside programs. That extra time helps them acclimate to the pace, technology, and emotional demands of patient care.

Meeting People Where They Are

The CNA apprenticeship serves a remarkably diverse group. Some participants are recent high school graduates who know early on that healthcare is their calling. Others are second career adults who have always wanted to be in the field but never had the chance.

Lleyna is especially inspired by those second career apprentices. They bring decades of life experience and a deep sense of purpose. She has seen many of them excel in the hospital setting, drawing on skills from previous jobs while learning the clinical side of care.

Regardless of age or background, apprentices often share similar barriers. They may be unsure how to apply, worried about childcare, or unable to give up a paycheck to attend school. Through its partnership with Midwest Career Source and local workforce agencies, St. Elizabeth’s works to reduce those barriers. Apprentices are paid during training, receive day one benefits such as medical and tuition assistance, and have access to wraparound supports like tutoring and help with test preparation.

Once they are in the door, the hospital encourages them to keep going. Apprenticeship is framed not as a destination but as a starting point. From CNA, apprentices can move toward roles such as medical assistant, licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, phlebotomy technician, radiology technologist, pharmacy technician, and more. Lleyna has even seen one CNA go on to medical school and become a physician.

Program Outcomes and Career Pathways

Since 2021, St. Elizabeth’s has hired dozens of CNA apprentices through the program. By looking across several years of data, Lleyna has seen clear patterns. A significant share of apprentices go on to nursing school, and many have already graduated and returned to work as registered nurses. Others are still in progress, steadily advancing along their education pathways.

On the retention side, average length of employment for apprentices is similar to CNAs hired through traditional routes. In other words, the apprenticeship program is successfully attracting and preparing candidates who stay at rates comparable to the broader workforce. When people leave, it is often for reasons that are part of the reality of healthcare, such as the physical and emotional demands of the work or the challenge of managing twelve-hour shifts with family responsibilities.

From Lleyna’s perspective, the advancement numbers are especially powerful. A meaningful portion of apprentices have already moved on to higher level nursing programs. For a CNA workforce, having roughly one quarter to one third of participants progressing into nursing school is a strong signal that the pathway is doing exactly what it was designed to do.

Benefits for Employers and Communities

For St. Elizabeth’s, the CNA apprenticeship program directly supports the hospital’s mission to provide compassionate, high-quality care. CNAs spend more time at the bedside than almost any other role. They assist with daily living activities, comfort patients and families, and often notice subtle changes that others might miss. Building a stable and skilled CNA workforce is essential for the patient experience.

The program also aligns with one of the health system’s core pillars, which is human potential. Every person who walks through the door brings value, and apprenticeship gives them a way to grow that value over time. By combining education, paid experience, and clear next steps, the hospital helps colleagues reach their full potential while also meeting critical staffing needs.

At an organizational level, the partnership with Midwest Career Source and the local grants department has created unexpected benefits. Before apprenticeship, Lleyna personally built and taught a homegrown patient care assistant program. It was successful but did not result in a portable credential and required a large share of her time.

The registered apprenticeship model changed that. Apprentices now earn a state recognized CNA certificate they can carry anywhere, along with the pride that comes with it. At the same time, shifting classroom instruction to dedicated CNA educators freed Lleyna to expand other workforce programs, including a paid nursing internship that has become a key pipeline for new graduate nurses. Today, most new nurse positions for summer are filled months earlier than in the past, a major change from the days when hiring stretched well into July.

For the community, the impact is broader still. Apprenticeship opens doors for people who might otherwise never see themselves in healthcare. It gives them a credential, a paycheck, and a team that believes in their success.

Looking Ahead

The future of the partnership between St. Elizabeth’s and Midwest Career Source looks bright. The team is planning multiple CNA apprenticeship cohorts in the coming year, including a summer group aligned with high school graduation so young adults can move directly into paid training and benefits after they receive their diplomas.

Lleyna and her colleagues continue to explore additional pathways as well, based on the needs of each facility. The goal is always the same. Create clear, supported routes into healthcare, then help people keep climbing.

For Lleyna, the work is personal and deeply hopeful. She remembers the early conversations during the transition out of the height of COVID and the uncertainty that surrounded staffing at that time. Looking back now, she sees a network of partners, apprentices, nurses, and leaders who stepped forward together.

“Take the chance to try. You will meet people you never would have met, open doors for talent who had barriers to entry, and grow the diversity and strength of your workforce in ways you cannot always see at the start.”
— Lleyna Gorka