CVS opens first-of-its-kind workforce training and community center in Baton Rouge

Apr. 26—A first-of-its kind community resource center and workforce training facility, complete with a mock CVS Pharmacy, is now open in Baton Rouge.

The Workforce Innovation and Talent Center is designed to help young people, people with disabilities, ex-military and people in need of more job training overcome employment barriers while increasing access to health care sources, said Yani Diaz Bennett, senior manager workforce initiatives for CVS Health. The WITC is located in an Essen Lane office building, across the street from Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

While CVS operates 11 other WITCs, mainly in the Northeast, this is the first time that Aetna has been involved in the operation. This will allow Aetna Medicaid customers and other community members to access on-site health assessments and education.

"The community really needed this in this part of town," said Sharon Correa, manager workforce initiatives for CVS. "We have a lot of community partners that are very hands-on, and their needs are very great."

The plan is to replicate the Baton Rouge facility in other markets across the U.S.

An existing shortage of pharmacy technicians was only made worse by COVID-19. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the number of pharmacy technician jobs is projected to increase by 6% by 2032, double the average growth rate for all occupations.

The WITC is set up to build talent pipelines for CVS and raise the skill set for the community, Diaz Bennett said. Once workers complete the six-week program they are eligible to work in pharmacy technician jobs at CVS, local hospitals, other pharmacies or for insurance companies.

"It's a very large field," she said.

The center features a 900-square-foot mock pharmacy, consultation rooms for telehealth visits, work stations for Aetna employees and multiple meeting and huddle rooms. Plans are to offer a variety of community services, including financial literacy classes, a vending machine for bus passes, and free diapers and Narcan.

CVS plans to work with multiple partners to train workers, including Goodwill Industries, Baton Rouge Community College, Job Corps and Fortis College.

A major partner will be Big Buddy/Mayor's Youth Workforce Experience. The goal is to have 500 Big Buddy participants go through the program this summer, starting as young as 14.

Big Buddy, MYWE and CVS have teamed up for three years to train more than 50 high school students over the summer, so the new location will expand on that work.

A'amya Johnson, a junior Baton Rouge Magnet High who turns 17 this weekend, went through the CVS training last summer because she couldn't find work. She now has a job at the Bluebonnet Boulevard pharmacy.

"It was a phenomenal experience," she said. "I want to go into psychology when I go to college, and this taught me how to approach people and act toward them to make me feel comfortable."

The new center will allow Aetna to help more people like Rhonda Diop of Baton Rouge. Diop said she contacted the company because she was looking for a primary care doctor. The case worker helped her and provided support while her mother went into hospice care.

"Aetna was a big help during a time of transitioning in my life," she said. "You don't know what you are in need of until you really need it."

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