Clinical care extender

Clinical Care Extenders (CCE) are volunteers that work in hospital settings as interns. Volunteers enter the program to complete 280 hours of service which is done in a few rotations in different areas of the hospital, providing a behind-the-scenes experience of a health care provider, experiencing direct patient care. The period of work can vary from 3 months to over one year, at a rate ranging from twenty to only four hours per week. Volunteers can be undergraduate or graduate students or professionals, or in the case of the "Red Shirt Program," high school students.
The CCE program was devised by, and is administered by, the COPE Health Solutions corporation to "help hospitals and other health care organizations grow their workforce." The program provides volunteer workers to augment "patient support" hours support hospital staff. CCEs are selected from applicants who have a "serious interest" in pursuing a healthcare career. Riverside Community Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center, St. John's Regional Medical Center and St. Mary Medical Center.
A former CCE volunteer stated that even before the conclusion of his first year in the program, he "knew" he wanted to be a doctor.
According to COPE Health Solutions, eligibility requirements for Clinical Care Extenders include: interns must be 18 years or older and accepted, currently enrolled in, or graduated from an accredited college or university; they must complete pre-training paperwork as well as attend an "Immunization Open House" and submit required immunization/test records; finally, individuals must attend mandatory 3-day training and pass a post-training exam.
CCE scheduling requirements include serving a minimum of one four-hour shift each week (most departments are open 7am-11pm), attending all bi-monthly CCE meetings, and accumulating a total of 280 hours of internship hours.

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