NEW YORK (WKBW) — New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Thursday the "Nurses For Our Future Scholarship" program that will cover tuition for 1,000 new health care workers at SUNY and CUNY schools.
The governor's office said the program is an effort to help address the shortage of health care workers across the state. According to a release, there are currently more than 9,300 openings for Registered Nurses in the state, "This scholarship program is designed to recruit and retrain nursing and health care professionals to serve in NYSRNs which are most in need."
Nobody has put more on the line than those of us on the front line during this pandemic, and Governor Hochul's visionary investment in helping us rebuild our nursing ranks is exactly the kind of support we need to keep delivering the care New Yorkers rely on. Because the best care is also culturally responsive care, these 1,000 scholarships present an enormous opportunity for us to continue to recruit from all communities around the state, and by seeding them at SUNY and CUNY, they also strengthen our public higher education institutions, making it clear that Governor Hochul is prioritizing our healthcare workers and our young people - exactly the type of priorities we need to bring New York back.
- New York State Nurses Association Executive Director Pat Kane, RN
The New York State Department of Labor will market the opportunities to existing and unemployed workers as well.
Just a year ago, we were celebrating our healthcare workers as the heroes they are, and the pandemic has shown us that we cannot afford a labor shortage in the healthcare industry. I'm proud to announce our new Nurses For Our Future Scholarship as an important step to train more nurses and bring them into our healthcare system. SUNY and CUNY scholarships move us toward a more prosperous and equal New York, by working to make sure every New Yorker has access to training programs, one-, two-, and four-year degrees, community college; SUNY and CUNY should be the pathway to the middle class.
- Gov. Hochul
