Cooper Health Careers Initiative offers free education for Camden residents

Camden, NJ (WTXF) - There's a groundbreaking new program to educate residents in the medical field for free. The Cooper Health Careers Initiative offers students job training in medical coding. It's a public and private project helping young adults. The training program ends with a guaranteed full-time job at Cooper University Health Care.

"I call it a game-changer because they're going to do so much within the health care field," Director of Health Information Management Victor Fabian said.

21-year-old Patrick Findlator is already looking past the entry level position in medical coding waiting for him. He migrated to the United States from Jamaica only 6 years ago. He's determined to help struggling family members.

"I know what growing up in that amount of poverty is,' he said. "I also grew up in that poverty so I can't forget where I came from."

The CHCI program is open to young adult residents of Camden who have a high school diploma, GED, or are working toward one and are prepared for a college-level course of study. The program is also available to students currently enrolled as high school seniors at Camden County Technical Schools, or may be high school graduates who are currently unemployed or underemployed and seeking a rewarding career.

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