IHA to serve as One of Three High Performing Workforce Investment Organizations Under New York Health Equity Reform (NYHER) 1115 Waiver
IHA has been selected by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) as the Region 2 Workforce Investment Organization (WIO) under the new 1115 NYHER Waiver. The official announcement was made by Governor Hochul in New York City on August 15th, 2024.
IHA’s 25-year history of contributions and experiences with the health care workforce in Upstate New York has perfectly positioned us for success in this new role. The waiver includes $646 million dollars over a three-year period dedicated to bolstering the health care workforce across the state through a career pathways training (CPT) program. IHA will be facilitating the CPT in Region 2, which consists of a large portion of Upstate New York, under the program name Caring Gene Healthcare Career Pathways, Inc. (Caring Gene CPT). The western portion of the State (Region 3) will be served by the Finger Lakes Performing Provider System and downstate (Region 1) will be served by the 1199 SEIU Training and Employment Funds.
Caring Gene CPT will facilitate and organize the education of unemployed/ underemployed individuals not currently working in healthcare as well as provide career enhancement opportunities for existing employees of healthcare organizations. Eligible students will be recruited to complete training in more than a dozen healthcare career titles focused on nursing, professional technical and frontline public health workers.
The program will pay for 100 percent of tuition costs books fees, supplies, and licensing exam fees, as well as be utilized to employ education case managers who will help students successfully complete their academic program. Once students finish their education they will complete a three-year service commitment with a healthcare employer, serving a 30% or more Medicaid/uninsured population.
Caring Gene CPT is being led by Tosha Grimmer, Executive Director of the program. Since the official announcement Tosha has been diligently meeting with partners across Region 2 including educational institutions, providers, and local community organizations. The program website is in development and is expected to go live in late fall or early winter and the program anticipates to be enrolling students for the start of the January 2025 semester.
For more information please visit our temporary site here.
See our full press release here.
Full list of eligible training titles:
Licensed Practical Nurse, Associate Registered Nurse, Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant, Master of Social Work, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, Certified Pharmacy Technician, Certified Medical Assistant, Respiratory Therapist, Community Health Worker, and Patient Care Manager / Coordinator.