Press Release: Governor George E. Pataki announces availability $15M for Displaced Healthcare Workers

GOVERNOR PATAKI ANNOUNCES THE AVAILABILITY OF $15 MILLION IN JOB TRAINING FOR DISPLACED HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Governor George E. Pataki today announced the availability of up to $15 million for a Displaced Healthcare Workers Program for health care workers impacted by the recommendations of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century. The grants which will be funded through the federal $1.5 billion F-SHRP program are being made available to begin implementing the recommendations of the Berger Commission Report.

"This initiative targets those workers affected by the consolidations, closures, conversions and restructuring of institutions resulting from the recommendations of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century,” Governor Pataki said. “Today, we are taking this step to make it easier for these hard-working New Yorkers to get the help they need to make a smooth transition to new jobs, in the healthcare industry."

The Displaced Healthcare Workers Program will allow employees affected by the recommendations of the Berger Commission or other economic factors or trends to receive the necessary job placement, counseling and short-term training necessary to be re-hired into the healthcare system or into other comparable jobs.

The program is targeted at workers in less-skilled positions, such as service, clerical, maintenance and security jobs. Unlike their co-workers who are in short supply for posts such as clinical, technical and other patient care areas, these employees are expected to have less access to re-employment opportunities without additional assistance and short-term training.

The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to select regional coordinating organizations in six regions across the State to manage the job counseling, placement and short-term training needs of these affected workers and expand upon the job counseling, placement and training services currently operated by the State Department of Labor (DOL).

DOL currently maintains a database of job vacancies and has a rapid response system that provides activities and core services to address anticipated business closures. However these services are not specifically targeted to the needs of healthcare workers. In addition, these services are not in a position to respond to the number of healthcare workers who may be affected in a relatively short period of time under the recommendations of the Berger Commission.

Grant funds will be used to:

Develop and maintain a database of employment opportunities for displaced health care workers in each of the six regions;
Identify and coordinate the training and job counseling needed to enhance each job candidate’s employability; and,
Coordinate with the Department of Health for placement of workers in need of more extensive training to obtain employment.

Organizations eligible to apply must be not-for-profit entities, including union training funds, health care facility trade associations, area health education centers, health worker unions, and labor management committees. Grant seekers must have experience in developing and maintaining a jobs data bank and experience in coordinating job counseling, placement, and short term training services for health care workers. The State will award these funds on a competitive basis to the highest scoring eligible organization in each region.

Questions concerning the program, and the application deadlines can be e-mailed to wrkforce@health.state.ny.us Technical questions concerning preparation of an application can be submitted to Cherlyn More at 518-473-4700. Deadline for applications is February 15, 2007.