Newark-Wayne Community Hospital, Rochester General Hospital, the University of Rochester and Cayuga Medical Center at Ithaca are among 34 facilities selected for New York grants to train and retain health care workers.
The state announced $32.5 million in annual competitive awards Wednesday under the Increasing Training Capacity in Statewide Health Care Facilities program. The five-year awards run from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2031, and remain contingent on review and approval by the state comptroller's office.
Individual awards range from $500,000 to $1 million a year. The money supports facility-based training for current and future employees pursuing recognized health care licenses and certifications.
Facilities selected across the region
Newark-Wayne, Rochester General and the University of Rochester are the three recipients listed in the state's Finger Lakes region. Cayuga Medical Center is listed in the Southern Tier, alongside Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital and United Health Services Hospitals.
The Central New York recipients are Loretto Health and Rehabilitation, Seneca Hill Manor and St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center. The full award list also includes facilities in the Capital Region, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, Mohawk Valley, New York City, North Country and Western New York.
The selected organizations include general hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and diagnostic and treatment centers. Each assessed its local and regional workforce needs and designed a training program around the shortages it identified.
That approach allows facilities to focus on different licensed and certified professions rather than use one training model statewide. The governor's announcement identifies nursing, allied health, behavioral health, primary care and oral health among the fields facing shortages.
What the grants can pay for
Eligible expenses include tuition and fees, instructor salaries, simulation laboratory equipment, wage subsidies and recruitment costs. The awards are intended to expand the number of qualified professionals facilities can train each year, as well as help them retain workers.
The program supports not-for-profit facilities licensed under Article 28 of the state's Public Health Law. It is administered by the state Department of Health's Office of Health Care Workforce Innovation, within the Center for Strategic Health Initiatives and the Office of Primary Care and Health Systems Management.
State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said the grants will help facilities expand their training infrastructure in response to their communities' needs. The state's announcement cites federal Health Resources and Services Administration projections showing shortages in several health care disciplines continuing through 2036.
The awards are part of what the governor's office describes as a broader $10 billion health care investment, including wages and bonuses aimed at recruitment and retention.
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