FLA: Medical tuition offered to Sept. 11 victims

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

By Nancy McVicar

HEALTH WRITER, Sun-Sentinel

Posted December 22 2001

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-rxnurse22xdec22.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dsfla

South Floridians who have lost their jobs since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will get free tuition and a job if they are willing to switch careers to become a nurse or train for a related health-care career.

A program announced Friday by Gov. Jeb Bush and HCA, The Healthcare Company, provides financial assistance for qualified men and women who want to become registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, surgical technicians, radiology technologists or certified nursing assistants.

"This program will provide new career paths for many of those affected by Sept. 11, and help bring more health professionals into the workforce," said Jack Bovender, president and CEO of HCA, based in Nashville, Tenn.

Warren May, spokesman for the state Agency for Workforce Innovation, said applicants who successfully complete their training would be guaranteed a job in an HCA hospital or other facility. If they work for a length of time equivalent to their time in school, their student loans will be forgiven, May said.

HCA, formerly Columbia HCA, has 40 hospitals in the state, including 10 in South Florida.

The company is making $1.2 million available to pay for health-related training in six regions nationwide, including South Florida -- Broward, Palm and Miami-Dade counties. The U.S. Department of Labor will provide up to $5 million for the program.

"Any program that will increase the nursing work force is certainly needed," said Willa Fuller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Nurses Association. "It's been done in previous nursing shortages and it works. I went to school that way. My hospital paid my tuition, and then I got another degree the same way."

A Florida Hospital Association survey released in July found nearly 9,000 nursing jobs going unfilled in the state. South Florida's nursing vacancy rate was among the highest at 15.7 percent.

May said some people who lost jobs in the airline or tourism industries, hardest hit since Sept. 11, already have expressed interest.

"We've had several people who were working in the airline industry, who had nursing experience, say they just need to get enough education to get recertified," May said.

"We see this as a real boost to the state. Health care is a dynamic field and offers a lot of opportunity to someone who wants to get into the field and move up the ladder."

For more information, contact the nearest workforce system One-Stop Career Center. Call toll-free 877-872-5627 to locate an office. HCA also has a toll-free number, 800-422-2273 or view HCA's Web site, http://www.hcacares.com, which allows you to apply on line.

Nancy McVicar can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4593.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Fund created to train health workers

By BILL LEWIS

Staff Writer

http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/01/11/11531702.shtml?Element_ID=11531702

Hospital Corporation of America and the U.S. Department of Labor are creating a $10 million scholarship fund to train workers dislocated by the events of Sept. 11 for jobs in the critically understaffed health-care field.

''This goes back to what the president has been talking about, getting the country back to work and doing the things we need to do,'' HCA President and Chief Executive Officer Jack Bovender said yesterday, referring to President Bush's comments about strengthening the economy.

Nashville-based HCA and the Labor Department will each make $5 million available for scholarships in six metropolitan areas hard hit by the economic fallout of Sept. 11. In those areas-Atlanta, South Florida, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Dallas, Houston and Denver-the fund will provide training for an estimated 2,000 people. They will be guaranteed employment at HCA facilities in those areas. Training will be offered for nursing and clinical jobs. In return for the scholarships, workers will be asked to make an employment commitment equal to the length of their training.

Nashville wasn't included because its economy wasn't as seriously affected as the other cities'.

Bovender, who approached the Labor Department with the idea for the scholarships, hopes to attract individuals who want to change careers and enter a field that faces a critical labor shortage. By 2020, a shortage of 400,000 nurses is expected.

''My thinking was, you've got large numbers of people being laid off, and we've got this acute shortage of health-care workers,'' he said.

Assistant Secretary of Labor Emily Stover DeRocco agreed that the scholarships will meet twin goals.

''While providing much-needed training to workers who have lost their jobs since Sept. 11, this partnership allows the department to combat a growing shortage of health-care workers.''