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Florida Workforce Group Receives Funding to Train Health Care Workforce
Florida's Manatee Sarasota Workforce Funders Collaborative has received $1.5 million to help educate and train residents for health care careers, the Bradenton Herald reports. The funding includes a $1 million award from the Knight Foundation, as well as a series of smaller awards to be awarded over the next three to five years from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, City of Bradenton Central Community Redevelopment Agency and the Downtown Development Authority in Bradenton. The dual county collaborative also plans to use a portion of the funding to provide additional education and training opportunities to entry-level health care workers. According to the collaborative, 67 percent of entry-level health care workers in Manatee have earned less than a bachelor's of science degree, and 21 percent have an associate's degree. Moving forward, the collaborative plans to review local employers' requests for funding and education needs for workers and will then determine which should receive funding. According to statistics provided by the Florida Center for Nursing, the state will have a shortage of 32,900 R.N.s by 2015, a deficit that could swell to 52,200 by 2019 unless action is taken (Gagliano, Bradenton Herald, 10/29/09).