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Nursing World

Today the American Nurses Credentialing Center is excited to announce that the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, New York’s largest grantmaking organization focused on improving the health and well-being of vulnerable communities, is premiering its new Nursing Initiative. It’s a grant program created to support safety net hospitals across the state that provide a significant amount of care to high-need populations. The selected hospitals can receive up to $5 million respectively to pursue the Magnet Recognition Program® or the Pathway to Excellence® program from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, as well as implement or expand virtual nursing and nurse residency programs…

…The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation developed the Nursing Initiative following the launch of its healthcare workforce report with the University of Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies. According to data referenced in the report, 15% of hospital patient care RNs between the ages of 20 and 39 reported plans to leave their current position within the next 12 months, underscoring the urgency of mitigating further declines. The study found that despite sizable investments committed to address healthcare workforce shortages, New York is still struggling to bolster its registered nursing workforce statewide…

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Crain’s New York Business

One in 6 New Yorkers who needed dental care in the past year could not get it, according to a new study from SUNY Albany’s Center for Healthcare Workforce Studies.

That’s primarily because of the high cost of oral health care and widespread gaps in dental insurance coverage, according to the study, which analyzed state and national survey data from the American Association of Medical Colleges.

More than 11% of New Yorkers said they could not afford to go to the dentist. Roughly 10% lacked dental insurance, and of those who had coverage another 10% said they had trouble finding a dentist who accepted their plan.

Part of the problem is that private dental practices often do not accept Medicaid, forcing many low-income New Yorkers to seek care at overburdened safety net providers, explained Dr. Simona Surdu, co-director of SUNY Albany’s Oral Health Workforce Research Center and the lead researcher of the study…

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Dentistry Today

Oral health plays a critical role in a person’s overall health and well-being, yet many New Yorkers face limited access to the oral health services they need. Identifying where these needs are most acute can help guide resource allocation to fill service gaps.

A new report, released by the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) at the University at Albany’s College of Integrated Health Sciences, indicates that improving access to oral health services in New York State requires a broader understanding of oral health needs and the challenges that underserved populations face. The study, conducted by CHWS and funded by the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, examined factors identified by New York State consumers that affected their access to oral health services and explored differences in utilization of those services by sociodemographic groups….

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Times Union

When people’s education, skills and experience are not put to work, the unused human capital is an economic loss to us all. Physicians, engineers, computer programmers and teachers enter our country legally every year through the US Refugee Admissions Program, are resettled in upstate New York and become permanent residents after one year. Unfortunately, many refugees with university educations and professional experience remain unemployed or underemployed, working in jobs that do not require a college degree…

…According to a University at Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies report, New York has workforce shortages in all health care settings. These shortages affect all of us when we must wait many months to see a specialist or get special tests or scans, or must wait many hours for care in short-staffed emergency rooms. Yet a 2020 Migration Policy Institute report estimated that 22,000 immigrants and refugees in New York with a least a four-year college degree in medical fields were unemployed or underemployed.

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Crain’s New York Business

More than half a million home health workers in New York have fueled the state’s post-pandemic economic recovery as a popular Medicaid-funded home care program exploded, a new report shows…

…Growth in the state’s home care workforce has inflated overall job growth in the industry, hiding persisting shortages of other types of clinicians. Hospitals are still struggling to recruit and retain lab technicians, psychiatrists and registered nurses after the pandemic, according to a report by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at SUNY Albany. Experts have chalked up the persistence of health workforce shortages to low pay.

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Crain’s New York Business

The health care worker shortage that gained steam during the pandemic has continued relentlessly, driven by low pay, despite the state pouring billions into health workforce development in recent years.

The pandemic decimated the supply of nurses, social workers and other clinicians as workers left the epicenter in New York for more competitive salaries and less demanding roles in other fields or in other states. While the public health crisis has subsided, poor wages have persisted in many of those roles, making them notoriously hard to fill and keep, according to a new report from the Center for Health Workforce Studies at SUNY Albany.

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WRGB CBS 6 News, Albany

CAPITAL REGION, NY (WRGB) — New York health facilities continue to face challenges in hiring and retaining staff following a new study.

The Center for Health Workforce Studies latest report showed upstate New York struggled to hire and retain registered nurses, medical technicians, lab techs, and surgical techs.

The Iroquois Healthcare Association (IHA) based in Clifton Park was one of the agencies surveyed.

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WRGB CBS 6 News, Albany

Elisabeth Dubois and her parents say they’ve faced ongoing challenges in finding caregivers for her grandfather, Morris Wheeler…

…But that isn’t the case for most- a new report from the Center for Health Workforce Studies found nurse aides are the most difficult occupations to retain in Upstate New York.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, New York saw an increase in home health aides in 2023 up slightly from 2022.

However, it doesn’t mean they’re staying on the job…

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Crain’s New York Business

Nurse practitioners employed by New York State are suing the Department of Civil Service over alleged pay discrimination in a field dominated by women making far less than their physician counterparts.

The vast majority of nurse practitioners are women. In 2021, 92% were female statewide, according to the Center for Health Workforce Studies at SUNY Albany. By contrast, only 40% of active physicians in New York State in 2020 were female, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The number of nurse practitioners in New York has increased in recent years. The state issued more than 4,000 licenses in 2023, a 57% increase from 2019, according to data from the state Education Department. Close to half the 32,000 nurse practitioners in the state specialize in family health, with a plurality in adult health, psychiatry, pediatrics and acute care, the data show.

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Spectrum News

Nurses at Albany Medical Center, supported by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), held a picketing event last month to protest ongoing staffing shortages and contract disputes.

The demonstration comes amid new research from the Center for Health Workforce Studies in partnership with the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, which highlights burnout and inadequate training for new graduates as critical factors contributing to New York’s nursing shortage.

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