ATLANTA — A Goodwill program in Georgia is helping residents gain the skills needed to fill critical jobs in the healthcare industry, a field projected to face a shortage of more than 187,000 physicians nationwide by 2037.
The Goodwill Opportunity Accelerator Program provides unemployed and underemployed individuals with training for in-demand careers, including medical coding. For Lenora Witherspoon, the program offered a fresh start after major life changes.
Witherspoon relocated to Atlanta to care for her mother while going through a divorce and soon after, lost her job. “To have to start all over again in a whole new state was terrifying,” she said.
When she learned about the Opportunity Accelerator Program, she decided to pursue medical coding, a longtime interest that had never felt accessible. “There were times where I felt like I wasn’t up to par or couldn’t keep up with the younger people in the class,” Witherspoon said. “So I had to give myself some grace and learn to work at my pace and just be steady.”
Now employed as a medical coder with Optum in Atlanta, Witherspoon says the program helped her find confidence and stability again. “I needed to work towards excellence, not towards perfection,” she said.
WSB’s Mary Ryan Howarth contributed to this story