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

New York Institute of Technology will use a $200,000 grant from the New York State Department of Labor and the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council (LIREDC) to train healthcare workers who are prepared to 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 to receive funding in 2021 as part of New York State’s Workforce Development Initiative, launched in May 2019 to support 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, including LIREDC, played a key role in recommending applications for funding based on strategic regional economic needs and opportunities.

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 launchpad for additional certificates, especially for our alumni and professional affiliates.”

Five certificate programs will be established:

• Basic Life Support (with Automated Electronic Defibrillator [AED])
• Home Healthcare Aide with Gerontology Specialization
• Medical Coding
• Personal Trainer
• Rehabilitation Therapy Aide

Thanks to the grant, all certificates will be offered 100 percent 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.