Rochester’s Health Care Job Training Program Helps Low-Income Individuals Secure Better Paying Jobs

Rochester’s Health Profession Opportunity Grant is a federally funded program that aims to recruit, train, and find jobs for low-income individuals in the community, and as of last week, more than 100 people have been registered to participate.

The $1.6 million labor program, run by the community action agency, Action for a Better Community (ABC), is a five-year study to determine how these training programs help community members find better jobs. According to ABC, the program is on track to meet its goal of training more than 1,000 people in health care jobs.

“We have a very strict objective and that is to get people educated and trained and employed in the health care field so they can secure employment that is going to help them be self-sufficient,” said Donald Hardaway, president of the Rochester Health Profession Opportunity Grant.

With turnover rates rising among healthcare employees, such a program can help not only individuals in need of work, but the community as a whole as well.

Over half (57%) of businesses and organizations say that employee retention is a problem. The healthcare field is certainly no exception. In 2015, the average turnover rate among healthcare workers was 19.2%. A 2016 report from NSI Nursing Solutions revealed that turnover rates among registered nurses have further increased over the past year, with those working in behavioral health, emergency rooms, and surgical specialties experiencing the highest rates.

Researchers have said that the poor employee retention rates have negatively impacted hospital revenue cycles in addition to the quality of care. According to NSI Nursing Solutions, the average cost of turnover for a bedside registered nurse can cost a hospital up to $58,400, leading to average annual losses of as much as $8.1 million.

“Employers are reporting rising voluntary turnover rates, indicating the workforce has increasing confidence in the job market,” said the Vice President for Compdata Surveys, Amy Kaminski. “Your key employees have options when it comes to where they want to work.”

While a stronger job market may be good for employees, it is making retention difficult for healthcare facilities. Kaminski said that the best way to combat this phenomenon is to “develop a solid plan for recruiting new [employees],” and that is exactly what the city of Rochester is doing.