What's happening
This bill expands eligibility for health workforce retraining programs to include collaborative models for cross-training with home care and hospice services.
Why it matters
Addresses workforce shortages and flexibility. by allowing collaborative training between hospitals, long-term care, home care, and hospice organizations, which could help address gaps in staffing and improve continuity of care across different settings.
Promotes more versatile healthcare workers. by supporting cross-training in nursing, therapy, social work, and other direct care roles, enabling workers to operate effectively in both facility and community settings as patient needs and care delivery models evolve.
Could improve patient outcomes and care transitions. by fostering teams that are better prepared to support individuals as they move between hospital, home care, and hospice, potentially reducing hospital readmissions and enhancing patient satisfaction.
Expands funding eligibility and innovation. by enabling new types of partnerships—such as between educational institutions and home care agencies—to access state retraining funds, which may spur creative approaches to workforce development and better meet the needs of New York’s aging or chronically ill populations.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Expand Health Worker Training
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to health
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8613
IN SENATE
May 10, 2018
Introduced by Sen. HANNON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to collaborative programs for health workforce retraining and cross-training
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivisions 3 and 4 of section 2807-g of the public health law, as added by chapter 1 of the laws of 1999, are amended to read as follows:
3. Eligible organizations shall include health worker unions, general hospitals, long-term care facilities, other health care facilities, health care facilities trade associations, labor-management committees, joint labor-management training funds established pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Taft-Hartley Act, and educational institutions. Eligible organizations may include collaborative models with certified home health agencies, licensed home care service agencies, long term home health care programs and/or hospices for cross-training and cross-utilization of facility nursing, therapy, social work and other direct care personnel to meet patient and community needs in the changing health care system.
4. Eligible programs shall include programs which provide one or more of the following services in connection with training an eligible worker to: (i) obtain a new position, (ii) continue to meet the requirements of an existing position, or (iii) otherwise meet the requirements of the changing health care industry: (a) assessments to help determine training needs; (b) remediation, including preparation in English for speakers or writers of other languages, instruction in basic reading or mathematics, or completion of requirements for a general equivalency diploma (GED); (c) basic skills development; (d) reorientation; [and] (e) skills and educational enhancement, including, where appropriate, the provision of college level or college degree course work; and (f) cross-training with home care and hospice for the provision of nursing, therapy, social work and/or other direct care services in facility and community settings. To the extent that an eligible program is providing services
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15838-01-8
S. 8613 2
to train eligible workers to obtain a new position or to continue to meet the requirements of an existing position only, reimbursement shall also be available to an eligible organization for the actual cost of any employment or employment-related expenses incurred by the eligible organization in fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of such employees while they are engaged in such training programs.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to collaborative programs for health workforce retraining and cross-train- ing
Purpose
To amend the health workforce retraining program to include the option for hospitals and long term care facilities to create collaboratives with home care and hospice providers for worker retraining and cross- training for service in facility and community care settings, in sync with the evolving needs and trends in the health care system.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill amends section 2807-g of the public health law (the health workforce retraining program), by including the option for hospitals and long term care facilities to create collaboratives with home care and hospice providers for worker retraining and cross-training for service in facility and community care settings.
Section two of the bill establishes the effective date.
Justification
State and federal policies, and industry-wide trends, are seeking to maximize and optimize care at home and in community settings (versus institutions and emergency rooms) wherever possible. This shift in the locus of care also brings a shift in the need for personnel, personnel training and skills needed to deliver care in home and community settings.
The Health Workforce Retraining Program was created and is regularly renewed under the New York Health Care Reform Act (HCRA). The program's purpose helps meet the health care workforce and service needs of the changing system, and supports direct care practitioners to align their skills with this shifting system, particularly from institutional to home and community care settings. Current state regulatory and system modernization efforts have also placed great focus on the need for health personnel to meet home and community needs, including those in geographic and discipline shortage areas, and on new models heavily dependent on particular disciplines (such as nursing) for quality and cost-effective care at home and in community settings.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None. The Health Workforce Retraining Program is already supported by funding, renewed annually, from HCRA and the state budget.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.