TAMPA, Fla.- A new training center in Brandon looks to help address the health care staffing shortage.

Suncoast Community Health Centers recently opened its own training facility, Suncoast Career Academy. The state-of-the-art space is designed to train and keep future health care workers right in the Tampa area.

The nonprofit boasts being one of the first community health providers in Florida to open its own training center, offering pharmacy technician, medical assistant and dental assistant programs.

“This provides an added benefit or pipeline for those communities, so if you’re going to grow and strengthen a community from a health care perspective you’ve got to be able to provide well-trained, well-qualified support staff,” said Bradley Herremans, CEO of Suncoast Community Health Centers.

Lead Dental Assistant Alondra Gaspar was grateful to get her hands on the new equipment. “When I first started here, they didn’t have all this,” says the graduate who aspires to be a dental hygienist.

The facility's main goal remains the same — offering a well-rounded student experience.

“This is a career academy, so we teach them the whole nine yards about how to look for a job, how to do a resume, how to write a job letter, how to do an interview,” said Nila Patel, pharmacist and pharmacy technician instructor at the academy.

Research from The American Dental Association suggests about 36% of private practices are working to recruit dental assistants. A Medical Group Management Association poll revealed 44% of practices said the medical assistant role was the most challenging to recruit.

Suncoast Career Academy hopes to change that.

“Now we have this and I feel like everybody can come here and actually be hands on,” said Gaspar.

Enrollment is currently open for summer and fall semesters.