PENNSYLVANIA — Senator Maria Collett, RN (D-12 Montgomery/Bucks) announced this week that $1.2 million in grant funding is now available to support Nursing Pathway Apprenticeship Industry Partnership programs across Pennsylvania. The funding for this program was secured as part of Senator Collett’s COVID-19 Nursing Workforce Initiative (NWI) and will help develop new nursing apprenticeship opportunities and address critical staffing shortages made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Even before the pandemic, nurses were stretched beyond their limits. Nurses have been leaving the field in alarming numbers, but it doesn’t have to be this way,” said Senator Collett, a nurse herself. “We can address workforce shortages and better support nurses by implementing policies like my Nursing Workforce Initiative that truly recognize nurses’ importance to our society. This new apprenticeship funding will set Pennsylvania workers up for success while strengthening our healthcare infrastructure so every patient receives the quality care they deserve.”
The Nursing Pathway Apprenticeship grant program will be administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I)’s Apprenticeship and Training Office. Workforce development boards are eligible for up to $260,000 to partner with local organizations, sponsors, and healthcare entities to register, maintain and manage nursing apprenticeship programs and recruit and retain qualified staff.
Applications are due November 30, 2022, and should be sent to the ATO grant resource account, atogrants@pa.gov. Grant funding will support registered apprenticeships from April 2023 through June 2026.
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