Grant to Help Train Health Care Workers
By Robyn Meadows, Lancaster New Era, Pa.
Jan. 26–Lancaster County just received $400,000 from the state to boost training for local health care workers.
Pennsylvania Labor and Industry Secretary Stephen Schmerin delivered a check to the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board today at a press conference held at Moravian Manor in Lititz. Scott Sheely, executive director of WIB, and local health care representatives were expected at the conference.
WIB will use the grant money to boost training for health care employees in long-term, in-home, residential and other facilities. It will help retain health care employees and recruit new ones, officials said.
“There is a need across the state for health care workers,” said Barry Ciccocioppo, spokesperson for the state Department of Labor & Industry. “There are projections for a significant shortfall in the number of health care workers over the next few years.”
The $400,000 grant is part of the governor’s $91 million Job Ready program, which aims to prepare workers in crucial fields around the state for new jobs and to increase their job skills. Moravian Manor, for example, will participate in training classes at Harrisburg Area Community College that will teach its nursing supervisors coaching and counseling skills.
Learning the skills will enable the supervisors to retain their staff and provide better care to residents, said Sharon Leese, vice president of human resources at Moravian Manor.
“If we have a (certified nurse assistant) who has attendance issues, instead of just using the normal discipline measures, which are punitive, the supervisor would use counseling to get to the root of the problem,” Leese said. That employee may be encountering personal problems and just need some other form of assistance. So by reaching out, it saves the person’s job and curbs turnover rates, Leese said. And that’s smart business.
Others around the state are also reaping the benefits. Governor Ed Rendell awarded 21 workforce development grants in December as part of a $4 million investment in workforce training. In addition to the $400,000 health care grant, the local WIB was awarded $200,000 for supervisory and management training and $75,000 for information, communication and printing training.
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