By Madeline Behr
USA TODAY
For Bella Medical Clinic in Oshkosh, federal money to hire three more employees was a “gift,” said Beth Nemecek, the clinic’s executive director.
“We’re completely 100 percent privately funded, so to that end, you can’t just add a $15,000 employee into payroll overnight, and we were growing and needed to do that,” she said in an interview with Gannett Wisconsin Media. “I became aware of this grant and it was just like a gift.”
As Baby Boomers retire and need more medical care, the need for skilled health care workers is growing, said Jill Valdez, grant director for the Fox Valley Workforce Development Board (FVWDB).
In 2012, the Department of Labor awarded a $4.8 million grant to the FVWDB, in partnership with North Central and Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Boards, to help local health employers hire new employees or offer more hours to underemployed workers.
Registered nurses, medical technicians, medical office managers, lab technicians, physical therapists and occupational therapists are just some of the positions covered in the grant, which will end in March.
The Department of Labor is predicting a shortage of these workers, but hospitals and other medical organizations are more hesitant to hire new graduates without much experience, Valdez said.
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