New York Tech Awarded NYSDOL Workforce Development Funds to Train Healthcare Workers

by Elizabeth Sullivan

Old Westbury, NY (05/04/2021) — New York Institute of Technology will leverage a $200,000 grant from the New York State Department of Labor and the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council (LIREDC) to offer training to potential healthcare workers in answer to Long Island's need for rehabilitation aides, medical coders, personal trainers, and home health aides.

New York Tech is among 10 organizations (and one of only two colleges) on Long Island receiving funding in 2021 as part of New York State's Workforce Development Initiative (WDI), launched in May 2019 to support strategic regional efforts that meet short- and long-term workforce needs, expand regional talent pipelines, and improve the economic security of women, youth, and other groups facing significant barriers to career advancement. Regional economic development councils such as LIREDC played a key role in recommending applications for funding, based on strategic regional economic needs and opportunities.

"The economic impact of COVID-19 has completely upended the traditional workplace, and we need a job training strategy that reflects the changing environment," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul in the state's March 3 announcement of the 75 grant recipients statewide. "As chair of New York State's Regional Economic Development Councils, I am proud that our Workforce Development Initiative will continue to keep our state ahead of the curve and create a more inclusive post-pandemic future where opportunity is accessible to all New Yorkers."

New York Tech's program will recruit participants who are currently under- or unemployed, including young people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, veterans, and other Long Islanders eager to pursue careers in the healthcare industry. It will leverage its established expertise in both healthcare and workforce development to set up the New York Tech Healthcare Service Training Project. The tuition-free certificate programs will help prepare qualified workers for in-demand jobs in Nassau and Suffolk counties. NYIT School of Health Professions, which will oversee the program, and NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine have extensive partnerships with healthcare providers in these Long Island counties and in New York City.

"As the need for all levels of healthcare professionals continues to increase, our department chairs presented a plan to train people in specific populations who want to start a career in healthcare and work in a fulfilling occupation," School of Health Professions Dean Gordon Schmidt, Ph.D. said. "The result is the New York Tech Healthcare Service Training Project. We're delighted to have received state funding to execute our plan and contribute to the in-demand workforce among the healthcare professions. The introduction of certificates from the School provides a launch pad for additional certificates, especially for our alumni and professional affiliates."

New York Tech has a longstanding connection with young people on the autism spectrum. All training will take place at New York Tech's Long Island (Old Westbury) campus with students recruited from the general public and through veterans' organizations and unions, along with university hospitals and clinical affiliates in Long Island.

Five certificate programs will be established:

Thanks to the grant, all certificates will be offered 100% tuition-free. The Basic Life Support certificate, which will take only four hours to complete, is the foundation for the other job-specific certificates, some of which will take as long as 90 hours over four months. Classes will be held in either Fall 2021 or Spring 2022.

The one-year $200,000 grant is renewable for up to two additional years. The New York Tech Healthcare Service Training Project is expected to prepare as many as 270 certificate-holders per year, or 810 trainees over three years.

The School of Health Professions currently offers undergraduate programs in nursing, health sciences, health and wellness, and exercise science; master's programs in clinical nutrition, occupational therapy, and physician assistant's studies; and doctoral programs in occupational and physical therapy.

About New York Institute of Technology

New York Institute of Technology offers 90 undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs in more than 50 fields of study, including computer science, data, and cybersecurity; biology and biomedical studies; architecture and design; engineering; health professions and medicine; IT and digital technologies; management; communications and marketing; education and counseling; and energy and sustainability. A nonprofit, independent, private, and nonsectarian institute of higher education, New York Institute of Technology welcomes nearly 8,000 students worldwide. The university has campuses in New York City (Manhattan) and Long Island (Old Westbury), New York; Jonesboro, Arkansas; and Vancouver, British Columbia, as well as programs around the world.

New York Institute of Technology embraces its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, give all qualified students access to opportunity, and support research and scholarship that benefit the larger world. More than 107,000 alumni comprise an engaged network of doers, makers, and innovators prepared to change the world, solve 21st century challenges, and reinvent the future.

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New York Tech will leverage a $200,000 grant from the New York State Department of Labor and the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council to offer training to potential healthcare workers to meet Long Island’s need for rehabilitation aides, medical coders, personal trainers, and home health aides.