I.Introduction
The Town of Hempstead Workforce Investment Board (WIB) oversees “HempsteadWorks,” the workforce investment system for the Town of Hempstead/City of Long Beach area. It is the mission of HempsteadWorks to:
Ensure that skilled workers are available to employers
Help jobseekers find work and
Foster economic development.
Health care is one of the priority industry clusters in our local area where critical skill shortages exist. This project proposal was developed for our WIB by our Assessment of Local Skills Shortages (ALSS) Phase II Workgroup (Attachment A), a subcommittee of the Board that includes WIB members. The health care industry was chosen as a focal point of the project for the following reasons:
Health care is not only an industry where critical skill gaps exist, but it is one that crosses over to other industries the Board has identified has experiencing skill shortages, such as biotechnology
More than any other industry, skills shortages in the health care field have an impact that extends beyond the economy to the extent that they can mean the difference between life and death for our local residents
The Board had already made a great deal of progress with South Nassau Communities Hospital in planning career ladder training in a manner that leveraged a variety of resources, integrated partner services and create an incumbent worker model that could be easily replicated
Other health care organizations expressed interest in replicating the project
Because of the publicity associated with skills shortages in the health care industry, this initiative would heighten the visibility of the Board as a catalystforworkforce and economic development.
II.Project Plan
The mission of the HempsteadWorks Skills Shortages Phase II Project is to create a model system to assess skills shortages and design training to address those shortages in a manner, which will ensure that skilled workers are available to employers.
This mission would be accomplished by applying a systemic, long-term approach to closing skill gaps. Although the project would focus on the health care industry and specifically targeted the Registered Nursing shortage at South Nassau Communities Hospital, it would also serve as the nucleus of local WIB’s overarching strategy to fill skill gaps with other businesses and industries.
Although South Nassau had experienced shortages at all levels, Registered Nursing was where the widest skill gaps existed. In September of 2001, HempsteadWorks and South Nassau began to conduct joint strategic planning to identify solutions to this problem. As a result of this activity, funding opportunities were identified and pursued in a manner that would leverage funding to the maximum potential, coordinate resources and avoid duplication. As result, several collaborative grant proposals were submitted to funding sources.
Our collaboration also lead to the development of the Leveraging of Grant Resources Plan (Attachment B). In addition, HempsteadWorks funded an incumbent worker customized training program with South Nassau designed according to the H-1B Career Ladder Model (Attachment C). South Nassau was also a major source of data collected during our ALSS Phase I Grant Project.
In addition, the local New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) Division of Research and Statistics (R&S) Labor Market Analysts collaborated with HempsteadWorks to create a Training Needs Poll (Attachment E), which was posted on the Workforce New York web site and e-mailed to businesses registered in the One-Stop Operating System (OSOS). Data collected through this research will be shared with the WIB. It will also be utilized on a regional level by the Long Island Consortium for Workforce Development, a regional business services team, as part of an initiative to create a “skills bank.
III.Accomplishments
The matrix below describes quantifiable results that we accomplished under this project:
# / Goal / Plan / Actual1. / Increase the staff of Registered Nurses at South Nassau Communities Hospital / 5% / 1%
2. / Complete training and licensing requirements and upgrade or hire ten individuals for the position of Registered Nurse at South Nassau, with appropriate credentials and commensurate salary increases, in accordance with the Registered Nurse Career Ladder / 10 / 4*
3. / Upgrade employees at each rung of each career ladder, with appropriate credentials and commensurate salary increases, while creating opportunities for new employees to be hired / 10 / 4*
4. / Create a single model system for addressing skills shortages to be replicated by at least one additional hospital and one additional industry / 1 / Replicated by Winthrop University Hospital and by G&W Tools of the Manufacturing Industry
5. / Retain 80% of the new Registered Nurses in the position of Registered Nurse at South Nassau Hospital for a period of at least six months after the last day of the fiscal quarter when the training program is completed / 80% / TBD
6. / Demonstrate a positive return-on-investment, considering the dollars invested in training, the South Nassau Nurse Retention rate and the cost of employee turnover / + ROI / TBD
7. / Achieve a customer satisfaction rate for South Nassau as a business customer of at least 75% / 75% / 100% (Attachment D)
*Five (5) additional participants are still employed with South Nassau and enrolled in R.N. programs. One individual is no longer employed with the hospital, but is still enrolled in an R.N. program.
In addition to the above accomplishments, this project helped the WIB to form the HempsteadWorks for Health Care Skills Training Partnership, an informal collaborative efforts among the New York State Department of Labor, the local WIB, HempsteadWorks System partners, the local WIA Title I-B Grant Recipient, area health care organizations and various colleges and universities. The purpose of the partnership is to identify and address worker shortages, skills shortages and worker retention issues within the health care industry.
Through the collaboration of these organizations, to date thirty-one (31) health care professionals have been trained to advance along health care career ladders, from general maintenance occupations to Registered Nursing positions. An additional one hundred and seventy-eight (178) individuals are benefiting from Leadership Training, including such topics as: Effective Leadership, Communication, Strategic Planning, Marketing the Organization, Time and Project Management, and Competitive Strategy. In addition to providing the latter training to health care professionals, twenty (20) scholarships to attend this training have been appropriated to local economically disadvantaged youth.
The partnership includes the following organizations:
HempsteadWorks Workforce Investment System
Town of Hempstead Workforce Investment Board
Town of Hempstead Department of Occupational Resources
New York State Department of Labor
South Nassau Communities Hospital
Winthrop University Hospital
Adelphi University
Farmingdale Farmingdale University
Hofstra University
Molloy College
Nassau Community College
New York Institute of Technology
ATTACHMENT A
HempsteadWorks Assessment of Local Skills Shortages Phase II Workgroup
Richard E. Dibble, Ph.D.(Chairperson, Youth Council)
Director
Center for Labor and Industrial Relations
New York Institute of Technology
Room 517, 500 Building
Old Westbury, New York 11568
(516) 686-7722
(516) 686-7766 (fax)
/ Todd Morena
Vice President
Drake Beam Morin
58 South Service Road
Suite 130
Melville, New York 11747
(631) 752-3704
(631) 756-2571 (fax)
Henry Graber, C.P.A.
(Financial Secretary, WIB)
Graber and Co., C.P.A.s
1100 Franklin Avenue
Garden City, New York 11530
(516) 742-0100 / Martin G. Murphy
Director
Long Island Staff Development Consortium
75 East Walnut Street
Long Beach, New York 11561
(516) 897-2268
(516) 670-0439 (fax)
Gary Huth
Labor Market Analyst
Division of Research and Statistics
New York State Department of Labor
303 West Old Country Road
Hickville, New York 11580
(516) 934 –8533
(516) 934-8553 (fax)
/ Alan H. Nachman
(Vice Chairperson, WIB)
President
Diversified Micro Systems, Inc.
(631) 821-6323
(631) 821-6117 (fax)
Elvira Lovaglio-Duncan
Project Manager
National Council On The Aging, Inc.
Hempstead Executive Plaza
Suite
50 Clinton Street
Hempstead, New York 11550
(516) 485-5431
(516) 485-fax
/ Patrick Payne
President
P.B. Enterprises
43 Main Street
New York 11550
(516) 564-5103
Pat Malone
Director of Corporate Partnerships
Office of the Vice President for Economic Development
Room 210, Engineering Building
University of Stony Brook
Stony Brook, New York 11794-220
(631) 632-8433
/ Louise M. Rotchford
Assistant Dean for Community Services/Director of Special Programs for Business
Nassau Community College
One Education Drive
Garden City, New York 11530
(516) 572-7487
(516) 572-7503 (fax)
Hermine Weisman
Business Services Representative
Division of Employer Services
New York State Department of Labor
303 West Old Country Road
Hickville, New York 11580
(516) 934-8558
(516) 934-8553
/ Eugenia Ghartey
Liaison, HempsteadWorks Business Services Team
Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc.
50 Clinton Street, Suite 400
Hempstead, New York 11550
(516) 485-5000
(516) 485-5009
ATTACHMENT B
Leveraging of Grant Resources Plan
# / Request For Applications (RFA) /Request For Proposals (RFP) / Source / Purpose / Use by SNCH1. / Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Health Worker Training Initiative Home Care Service RFA 2002 / New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) / Train TANF recipients as home health workers / N/A
2. / TANF Health Worker Training Initiative Nursing Home RFA 2002 / NYSDOL / Train TANF recipients as nursing home workers / N/A
3. / TANF Health Worker Training Initiative Hospital Sector RFA 2002 / NYSDOL / Train TANF recipients as health care workers / Train TANF recipients, who are new hires, as Nurse Aide Workers
4. / Supplemental General Hospital Recruitment and Retention Rate Adjustment Program RFA / New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) / Recruitment and retention of non-supervisory and patient care health care workers / Equip incumbent workers with the skills to retain their current positions
5. / Older Worker Retention RFP / NYSDOL / Study problem of retaining hospital workers age 45+ and develop retention solutions / Study problem of retaining RNs age 45+ and develop retention solutions
6. / Career Ladder RFA / NYSDOL / Train workers in skills shortages areas to move up lowest rungs of career ladders / Train incumbent Comfort Squad, dietary workers and entry level workers to move up to Senior Biller
7. / HempsteadWorks Customized Training / Town of Hempstead WIB / Train new hires and incumbent workers to address skill shortages, increase and retain employment and earnings / Train incumbent Comfort Squad workers to move up to Nurse Aide workers and to move from part-time per diem to full-time permanent
8. / HempsteadWorks ALSS Phase II / Town of Hempstead WIB / Train workers to address a critical skill shortage / Train incumbent workers and new hires through degree programs and refresher courses to advance along RN Career Ladder from Nurse Aide rung upward
9. / Health Workforce Retraining Initiative / NYSDOL/NYSDOH / Train and retrain health industry workers / Train incumbent workers and new hires to gain skills not addressed by other sources
ATTACHMENT C
South Nassau Communities Hospital
Registered Nurse Career Ladder
# / Occupation / Hourly Wage / Annual Salary1. / Bed and Bath Squad (part-time/per diem) / Below $11.50 / (Average 20 hours per week)
2. / Comfort Squad – Maintenance/Dietary (part-time/per diem) / $11.50 / (Average 20 hours per week)
3. / Nurse Aide / $12.30 / $24,000
4. / Licensed Practical Nurse / $20.40 / $39,775
5. / Registered Nurse / $25.64 / $50,000
6. / Registered Nurse (Bachelor of Science) / $26.15 / $51,000
ATTACHMENT D
Customer Satisfaction Survey
HempsteadWorks
BUSINESS CUSTOMIZED TRAINING SURVEY
Section I: Survey Response
1. Please indicate your level of satisfaction with each of the features listed below by placing an “x” in the appropriate column:
Feature / Very Satisfied / Somewhat Satifisfied / Somewhat Dissatisfied / Very DissatisfiedConvenience of accessing training: / X
Courtesy of staff: / X
Quality of information provided by staff: / X
Quality of training provided: / X
Extent to which training objectives were achieved: / X
2. Please indicate how important each of the features listed is to your organization by placing an “x” in the appropriate column:
Feature / Very Important / Somewhat Important / Somewhat Unimportant / Very UnimportantConvenience of accessing funding: / X
Courtesy of staff: / X
Quality of information provided by staff: / X
Quality of training provided: / X
Extent to which training objectives were achieved: / X
Comments: __Through the Hospitals Career Ladder Initiative, I have found working with HempsteadWorks a delight to work with and look forward to building on the strong relationship that has been formed through our work together.
Section II: Contact Information
Employer/Organization Name: _South Nassau Communities Hospital______
Address: One Healthy Way, Oceanside New York 11572 ______
______
______
Contact Person’s Name and Title:
__Timothy Matejka, Associate Director of Development______
Telephone Number:
_516-632-3914______
Fax Number:
__516-336-2936______
E-Mail Address:
______
Best Time to Call:
9am – 5pm______
Name of Person Completing Survey:
_Timothy Matejka______
ATTACHMENT E
Training Needs Poll
1