Albany woman lives out dream to bring more African-Americans into health care

LaQuetta Alexander-Ellis may have the only Black-owned school in the Capital Region that provides training for those wanting to become phlebotomists and do other medical tests.

It’s all part of a dream of she has to make sure more African Americans turn to the health care industry.

Alexander-Ellis had always wanted to become a teacher, but she would become a clinical medical assistant at Albany Medical Center instead.

She taught several college courses while working, but the pull of having her own business – preparing people who looked like her for the health care field – would not leave her.

Just before the pandemic hit, she opened Practice 2 Perfect Training Center, LLC in Albany – a school for those wanting training in phlebotomy and administering EKGs. It may have seemed like bad timing, but it was actually the perfect time for training. Now her students could give a break to overworked healthcare workers responding to the pandemic.

She’s now trained over 200 students. Of those, 70% are now working in health care and they’re nationally certified.

MORE: Practice 2 Perfect Training Center, LLC