In the News

New York Department of Health

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 9, 2025) – The New York State Department of Health hosted its first-ever New York State Nursing Workforce Summit, bringing together nursing leaders, educators and researchers from across the state to share resources and successful strategies for addressing the nursing workforce shortage in New York. Session topics throughout the day-long summit included education and training, employment and retention, stories from the field and future collaborations.

“This is the first event of its kind created by and for nurses, providing us an important opportunity to hear directly from those on the front lines about the challenges nurses face and solutions they’ve implemented,” State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. “The goal of this summit is to strengthen communication and collaboration, which will lead to sustainable solutions for the future.”…

Jean Moore, Director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies said, “There are over 400,000 licensed registered nurses (RNs) in New York. Almost 2/3rds of them actively working in nursing and nearly half of active RNs provide patient care. An analysis completed by the Center for Health Workforce Studies found that patient care RNs, particularly those working in acute care, report high levels of burnout which contributes to turnover and ultimately a decline in the supply of patient care RNs. The Nursing Summit convened by the Department of Health provided a unique opportunity for a diverse group of stakeholders to learn from each other, sharing effective strategies to recruit and retain RNs.”

Read Article

 

Newsday

Mercy Hospital has received a $4 million grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to improve the workplace for its nurses.

The Rockville Centre hospital, part of the Catholic Health network, is one of 13 hospitals in the state, and the only one on Long Island, to receive the grant from the nonprofit that seeks to upgrade the conditions of New York hospitals…

…Jean Moore, the director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies, said the shortage has been going on for a long time.

“People always say, ‘Well, was it the pandemic? Did the pandemic do it?’ The pandemic didn’t create the problem. We’ve had nursing shortages for a long time, but it really exacerbated it. During the pandemic, people left the field for a variety of reasons. Some nurses retired, some became ill. Some left because they were afraid of becoming ill, or had family obligations or better job opportunities,” Moore said.

Read Article

Syracuse.com

Syracuse, NY — Alex Guerrero’s mom brought him to Syracuse as a teenager in hopes of a better life than in their native Cuba. She worked an unskilled manufacturing job while he honed science skills at Henninger High School…

…The need is pressing: Each year, there are nearly 5,000 regional job openings in the healthcare field, according to SUNY Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies. Those yearly openings include everything from 1,800 home health aides to 26 respiratory therapists.

That need is expected to expand, not only with Micron, but as the health care industry nationwide is expected to face a 100,000-person shortfall by 2028, fueled by pandemic burnout and an aging population.

 “There’s a huge shortage,” said Robert Martiniano, senior program manager at the health workforce institute.

Long Island Business News

-based Mercy Hospital is receiving $4 million in multiyear funding, thanks to ‘s new Nursing Initiative program. The funding is designed to foster , support nurses throughout their careers and enhance outcomes for patients and families…

…The funding comes at a time of a continued . In  2023, the average vacancy rate for hospital registered nurses (RNs) was 16 percent, with 62 percent of hospitals reporting vacancy rates of 12.5 percent or more, according to a report released in July of 2024 by the Albany-based Center for Health Workforce Studies…

Read Article

Health Beat New York

As New York faces a persistent nursing shortage, more than a dozen hospitals across the state, including three in the Bronx, are poised to receive a significant boost for their recruitment and retention efforts.

A $51 million grant program from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, a private nonprofit, announced on Wednesday, will fund efforts to strengthen the state’s nursing workforce as New York braces for an estimated shortage of nearly 40,000 nurses by 2030. The funding will help hospitals apply for nursing accreditation programs, which hospital leaders say will improve nurses’ well-being, as well as patient care…

…The foundation launched the grant program following the publication of a 2024 report from the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany’s School of Public Health that identified pervasive statewide shortages in registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, a wave of retirements, a diminished pipeline of qualified workers, and the draw of better-paid opportunities outside healthcare.

Read Article

United Health Services

UHS is proud that our organization has been selected as a recipient of a transformative grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, as part of the Foundation’s new Nursing Initiative. UHS will receive nearly $3.9 million in multi-year funding to strengthen nursing excellence, support nurses at every stage of their careers, and improve outcomes for the patients and families we serve across the Greater Binghamton region…

…The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation selected UHS from among more than 50 hospitals that applied for this competitive grant following a request for proposals. The Foundation’s decision was informed by an extensive selection process and a vision for equitable healthcare access across diverse regions of New York State.

The Nursing Initiative was developed in response to critical findings from a healthcare workforce report produced by the Foundation in partnership with the Center for Health Workforce Studies in Albany. The report identified challenges such as insufficient nurse preparedness, burnout, workplace violence, and generational shifts in career expectations—all of which the Initiative aims to address.

Read Article

New York Times

St. Barnabas Hospital plans to spend $5 million on a program for its nurses…

…Other foundation officials said that stress and burnout had contributed to the nursing shortage. They cited a statewide study by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, which found that just under half of nurses surveyed reported symptoms of burnout in 2023. The center also found that retirements were not the only factor in staff shortages. Younger nurses were moving on as well: About 15 percent of hospital nurses between 20 and 39 planned to leave their current jobs within 12 months.

Read Article

Becker’s Hospital Review

More than a dozen safety-net hospitals across New York state are set to receive $51 million in grants from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York City…

…The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation developed the Nursing Initiative in response to findings from a report by the Albany, N.Y.-based Center for Health Workforce Studies. The report found that while the vast majority of study participants reported that RN recruitment had slowly improved, retention remains a challenge.

Read Article

CBS 6 News WRGB Albany 

A new study from the University at Albany’s Oral Health Workforce Research Center has identified a concerning link between inadequate oral health care and complications during pregnancy. The research highlights the need for increased awareness and access to dental services for expectant mothers.

“Less than half of pregnant women actually seek oral health care,” said Dr. Simona Surdu, the director of the Oral Health Workforce Research Center at UAlbany. “And that was kind of like a very big red flag for us.”

View Segment and Read Article

Dentistry

A new study, published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, found that pregnant women who received preventive oral health care or visited a dentist or a dental clinic for oral health problems during pregnancy had a lower risk of developing gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders.

‘Our findings reinforce the connection between oral health and overall health,’ said Dr Simona Surdu, project director at the Center for Health Workforce Studies.

‘Integrating oral health education and services into maternal health care and expanding the oral health workforce through training, better distribution and inter-professional collaboration with prenatal care providers can improve access to oral health services for pregnant women – especially in underserved populations – and help reduce the risks of gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders.’

Read Article