August 3, 2022

Topic:  Healthcare Workforce Initiatives

Began by discussing toll COVID-19 took on essential workers. Ongoing Hochul Commitment:  Grow workforce by 20% over 5 years.

Tools:
1) Scholarships to Pay for Education of Healthcare Workers

NYS identified 1,000 scholarship winners State spent $15M 63,000 people applied for 1,000 slots.

Scholarships to attend a SUNY or CUNY institution with a corresponding commitment by award winner to stay with state for minimum of 2 years.

2)  HCW Bonuses:  State will launch online portal for healthcare worker bonuses Governor briefly mentioned state intends to open a portal but no further information was provided.  No timeframes.

3) Other recently enacted state budget initiatives including:-$2.4B for healthcare infrastructure and lab capacity-$4B to hospitals struggling to recover from financial hit from COVID-$7.7B to increase wages for home healthcare workers