Citing critical healthcare worker shortage, governor proposes $72 million for training

To combat the nursing and healthcare worker shortage, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) has proposed allocating $72 million from the state’s coronavirus relief funds to help students and universities that train nurses and healthcare workers. 

Although the measure must still be approved by the state legislature, Lamont’s plan includes $20 million in tuition support for students, $35 million to increase faculty in the healthcare programs and $17 million in loan forgiveness for students, the Connecticut Examiner reported.

Long-term care facilities have been especially hard hit by an ongoing healthcare worker shortage, healthcare leaders stated at a meeting of the Nursing Home Financial Advisory Committee earlier this year. Matthew Barrett, president of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, the state’s largest association of long-term care organizations and the state affiliate of the American Health Care Association, said that the healthcare worker shortage is preventing operators from returning to full occupancy. 

Kelli Vallieres, chief state workforce officer at the Office of Workforce Strategy, said during a Thursday press conference that the state faces “a critical shortage” of nurses and other healthcare workers. As of the start of this year, she said, healthcare and social assistance positions had more job postings than any other type of job statewide, the Connecticut Examiner reported.

According to Vallieres, the current nursing programs in the state can’t keep up with the demand — although 12,000 students are interested in enrolling in nursing or healthcare programs, only 2,800 seats are available — meaning that less than one in four students who apply are accepted into one of those programs.

“We’re graduating approximately 1,000 less students a year than is needed to fill the current demand for nursing every year,” Vallieres said.

Early on in the pandemic, Connecticut began taking steps to fend off the coming healthcare worker shortage. In March 2020, the state Department of Health launched an initiative to allow certification of a “temporary nurse aide” for workers to gain licensure to work as Connecticut certified nurse’s aides through an AHCA eight-hour training program.