Gov. Kathy Hochul is aiming to grow the state's health care workforce by 20% over the next five years, with a proposed $10 billion in investments to reach that goal.
"We simply do not have enough health care workers in our hospitals, or in our long-term care facilities, in our ambulances, or in the homes of our loved ones," Hochul said in her State of the State address on Wednesday.
Hochul said the state needs to "stop the current hemorrhaging of health care workers." To achieve the target of increasing the health care workforce by 20%, Hochul proposed investments including:
• $2 billion to support health care wages.
• $2 billion to support health care and mental hygiene worker retention bonuses. That includes bonuses of up to $3,000 to full-time workers who stay in their positions for one year, and pro-rated bonuses for employees working fewer hours.
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• $500 million for cost-of-living adjustments, to help raise wages for human services workers.
• $2 billion for health care capital infrastructure and improved lab capacity.
Hochul also proposed making it easier for doctors and nurses to practice with their existing licenses in New York State, expanding medical institutions' training capacity and workforce development efforts to attract new talent.
The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated a shortage of health care workers locally. The pandemic hastened the departure of thousands of health care workers, some out of health concerns and others over rising stress levels associated with their jobs.
With hundreds of jobs unfilled, local hospitals have been forced to operate with fewer staffed beds and curtail some services, despite offering thousands of dollars in signing bonuses to new hires and, in some cases, paying hefty premiums in the battle to land traveling workers from staffing agencies.
Matt Glynn
