Stein launches first state health care apprenticeship program
Josh Stein launched STEP-NC, the state’s first health care apprenticeship program, with paid training in state-operated facilities and a path into state jobs.
Gov. Josh Stein and N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary-designee Dev Sangvai rolled out STEP-NC at Broughton Hospital in Morganton, making it the first health care apprenticeship program in state government. The move puts state government itself into the pipeline for filling health care jobs, a shift that matters in Raleigh, where the agencies running the program are based and where workforce policy decisions ripple across Wake County.
NCDHHS says STEP NC stands for Skills, Training, and Employment Pathways North Carolina, and that the program runs through the Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities. The department describes it as offering paid, hands-on apprenticeships in health care and skilled trades. A flyer for external applicants says participants can earn while they learn, gain real-world experience and build skills that lead to long-term employment in state-operated facilities.
The program is aimed at more than one type of worker. A current-employees flyer says STEP NC also gives existing staff a chance to build new skills, earn recognized credentials and move into higher-level roles. The rollout has also been tied to behavioral health, nursing, maintenance and other health care positions, which gives the program a wider reach than a single bedside role.
That breadth matters because DSOHF is North Carolina’s safety-net system and supports 13 state-operated facilities. In Wake County, where state government is centered in Raleigh, the launch gives jobseekers and current state employees a new route into public-sector health care work without the traditional four-year college path.
North Carolina has used health care apprenticeships before, but not inside state government. In August 2022, Davidson-Davie Community College announced what it called the largest healthcare apprenticeship in the state, with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist as its first health care partner. In February 2021, North Carolina Community Colleges said the state’s first youth registered nursing apprenticeship began at Northern Regional Hospital with 13 Surry-Yadkin Works interns.
The program also fits Stein’s broader workforce push. In March 2025, he announced a state-level Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships at Forsyth Technical Community College in Forsyth County. ApprenticeshipNC, the North Carolina Community College System’s apprenticeship arm, describes registered apprenticeship as an employer-driven strategy to train and develop a skilled workforce, and its FY 2024-2025 report says apprenticeship expansion is a formal state workforce goal.
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