Lionstone Healthcare Partners with Clasp to Open New Career Pathways for Healthcare Workers — From Frontlines to Bedside

The initiative offers student loan repayment to nursing & therapy graduates and to current employees, including non-clinical staff, training for clinical roles.

BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES, March 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Lionstone Healthcare, a leading long-term care and assisted living provider serving communities across Ohio and beyond, today announced a landmark workforce partnership with Clasp, a company focused on addressing clinical healthcare talent shortages by drawing more students into key fields and incentivizing retention through student loan repayment. The initiative reflects Lionstone's belief that solving the healthcare workforce shortage means investing in the wellbeing and longevity of early-career clinicians.

INVESTING IN THE PEOPLE ALREADY HERE

Launched in late 2025, the first phase of the partnership creates what few healthcare employers have attempted: a funded clinical career pathway open to every Lionstone employee, regardless of their current role. STNAs can advance to LPNs. LPNs can advance to RNs. And food service workers, drivers, and janitorial staff – people who may never have seen a clear route into clinical work – can now pursue a path to becoming an STNA, with Lionstone's financial backing behind them.

"At Lionstone Healthcare, one of our values is to meet our employees where they are in their careers, supporting their growth, goals, and balance. Clasp allows us to achieve and promote this value with our teams while strengthening the care we provide to our communities.” – Ezzie Goldish, CFO, Lionstone Healthcare

Employees apply to attend school part-time while continuing in their current role. When they complete their program and step into their new clinical position, Lionstone begins repaying their student loans – a commitment that can reach up to $20,000 over three years for RNs.

In under two months, the response has been striking: 43 employees across Lionstone's facilities have already applied, signaling just how many people were waiting for this kind of door to open.

"This is a great program to help me further my education. Now I can focus on learning instead of worrying about how to pay off my student loans. – Brandy Land, LPN/MDS Coordinator, Lionstone Healthcare

Regional program managers at each facility guide applicants through the process – keeping the program human, local, and responsive to individual teams' needs.

BUILDING THE PIPELINE FROM THE OUTSIDE IN

Launching in March 2026, the second phase of the partnership extends Lionstone's commitment to the next generation of healthcare professionals entering the organization from outside. Through Clasp's Attract program, Lionstone can now engage nursing, physical therapy assistant, and occupational therapy assistant candidates before they've graduated, offering employer-backed student loan repayment upon hire. Candidates gain financial certainty, and Lionstone gains committed talent.

The investment reflects how central therapy is to Lionstone's model of care. PTAs and COTAs in skilled nursing and long-term care don't rotate through patients – they build relationships with residents over months and years, and their continuity directly shapes resident outcomes. For students entering this field, knowing that an employer sees and invests in that contribution from day one shapes where they choose to begin their career. Lionstone's commitment turns the first job into a foundation, not just a starting point.

A NEW MODEL FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Together, the two programs represent something more than a benefits upgrade. They represent a structural bet on a different approach to building a healthcare workforce — one grounded in the idea that education investment and employment commitment belong together from the start.

"Lionstone is doing something we don't see often enough – they've built a program that opens a clinical career to someone who might have spent years assuming that door wasn't for them," said Tess Michaels, CEO & Founder of Clasp. "That's an investment in economic mobility that demonstrates Lionstone’s incredible commitment to its people, and helps grow the pie of people pursuing these critical roles.”

Students interested in joining Lionstone Healthcare can visit clasp.com/joinlionstone to learn more and apply.

Healthcare employers seeking to widen candidate pools and drive retention can visit clasp.com/healthcare to learn more.


About Lionstone Healthcare: Lionstone Healthcare provides corporate healthcare support, consulting, and management services tailored for assisted living and skilled nursing facilities across several states. Facilities in Lionstone Healthcare’s network are recognized for their commitment to quality, exceptional staff, and beautiful environments. Drawing on deep industry experience, Lionstone Healthcare understands the challenges facility owners and operators face, and has built a value system to support their needs. Clients partnering with Lionstone Healthcare benefit from guidance on management strategy, improvements in facility operations, and strong leadership during times of change.

About Clasp: Clasp is an education-to-employment platform helping healthcare organizations build durable talent pipelines by aligning education financing with workforce outcomes. Clasp works with employers to design, fund, and administer programs that attract committed early-career talent, retain and upskill existing employees, and create career pathways for people who need them most – all while handling the compliance, operational, and financial complexity that make education benefits hard to deliver. Learn more at clasp.com.

Nicki Pickering-Seefried
Clasp
nicki@clasp.com
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