Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan initiative – matched with different Federal funding – will broaden coaching and profession alternatives for docs, nurses, social employees, and different well being professionals

Governor Janet Mills introduced at present the award of $2.25 million to strengthen Maine’s well being care workforce by increasing coaching alternatives for well being care professionals in rural communities and establishing a brand new system to match individuals to these alternatives. 

“Rural Maine is my home. I care deeply about the people who live there, and I want to ensure that they have access to high-quality health care services,” mentioned Governor Janet Mills. “This investment builds on our efforts to recruit and train more people to enter the health care workforce and to strengthen our health care system in the long-term for the benefit of Maine people.”

“This investment by Governor Mills will bolster Maine’s health care workforce and ultimately improve access to health care in rural communities,” mentioned Jeanne Lambrew, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. “Supporting the pipeline of health care professionals and developing a coordinated system to connect Maine people with rewarding career opportunities will help strengthen Maine’s health system for patients statewide.”

The award is funded by $1.6 million from the Governor’s Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, which will likely be used to recruit and help medical supervisors, often called preceptors, in rural well being programs, and to broaden graduate medical teaching programs in Maine. The funds, administered by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, will broaden coaching alternatives for docs, nurses, social employees, and different well being professionals in rural communities and encourage aspiring well being care employees to launch rewarding careers in Down East, northern, and western Maine, the place well being care suppliers are in demand. 

The particular awardees are: 

• $950,000 to MaineHealth to broaden Graduate Medical Education (GME) alternatives for physicians in coaching in hospitals and doctor practices in rural and underserved communities throughout Maine. This initiative is a collaboration amongst Maine Medical Center-MaineHealth, Central Maine Medical Center, the Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency, and Eastern Maine Medical Center-Northern Light Health. The collaborative will develop new rural coaching websites, present help for medical preceptors in rural communities, and a develop a brand new, shared rural GME curriculum. 
• $475,000 to the University of Maine System to improve placement of scholars pursuing Masters in Social Work (MSW) levels in rural well being care websites, improve the variety of educated practitioners who can supervise MSW college students, and encourage present well being care workers to contemplate pursuing an MSW diploma by offering the chance for area placements in rural communities.
• $175,000 to St. Joseph’s College of Maine to develop and implement new rural medical preceptorship applications to offer help for college kids in its undergraduate and graduate nursing applications. 

The Mills Administration can be awarding an extra $650,000 to fund the Building-ME Network undertaking, which goals to create a statewide system to streamline medical placements for trainees and preceptors in rural communities. These placements will embrace a wide range of positions and specialties, starting from entry-level medical help and laboratory workers to physicians, behavioral well being suppliers, emergency responders, and dental well being suppliers. MaineHealth is partnering with Northern Light Health, the Maine Hospital Association, and a number of other different supplier teams throughout the state on the initiative. Funding for this initiative is thru a Federal U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant.

“These investments in the GME collaborative and Building-ME Network are important for the people of Maine,” mentioned Linda Chaudron, MD, Vice President of Medical Education at Maine Medical Center-MaineHealth. “Thanks to the support of the Mills Administration, these programs will facilitate partnerships between health care and educational institutions, and support people wanting either to enter the health care workforce, advance health care careers or train as physicians in rural communities across the state.”

“Now more than ever, social workers are essential to ensuring the health, well-being and productivity of Maine people and our communities,” mentioned University of Maine Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “This investment recognizes our public university system’s unique ability to prepare compassionate and highly competent social work professionals for service across our state, and especially in rural regions where there is growing need, but where access to critical mental health and social services is limited. We look forward to leveraging these funds to expand enrollment and opportunity for our social work students to advance their own practice and make a real difference for their fellow Mainers during these times of challenge and change.”

“Health care has experienced a dramatic change with the pandemic and our rural communities and underserved areas have been the hardest hit,” mentioned Kelly Hudock, Chair of the Department of Nursing at St. Joseph’s College of Maine. “St. Joseph’s College of Maine is dedicated to improving health care in Maine and this generous award is the first step for our students, preceptors and communities.” 

“Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center is proud to participate in this grant-funded graduate medical education project and appreciate the resources provided by Department of Health and Human Services and the State,” mentioned Jim Jarvis, MD, Northern Light Health. “This money will help develop a network between the four institutions responsible for training physicians in residency and fellowship programs and rural hospitals, practices and community and health centers.  Physicians who train in rural settings are more likely to return to practice in them and better understand the needs of those communities.  As Maine’s population continues to age, it is critical that we train more health care professionals where they are needed.  This opportunity will better prepare tomorrow’s physicians to care for those in the State of Maine.”

“At a time when hospitals and providers across the state are facing unprecedented workforce shortages, expanding our training programs through statewide projects that bring multi-disciplinary groups together to collaborate is critical,” mentioned Sally Weiss, Vice President of Workforce Policy and Strategic Initiatives for the Maine Hospital Association. “These initiatives supported by the Mills Administration will strengthen and grow Maine’s rural health care workforce for years to come.”

This award is the newest funding from the Mills Administration to deal with Maine’s workforce challenges, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Jobs Plan devoted greater than $300 million for workforce applications, and has created 22,000 apprenticeship, profession and schooling development, and job coaching alternatives for Maine individuals. 

The Jobs Plan contains $20 million to straight strengthen Maine’s important well being care workforce and enhance well being look after Maine individuals: 

• Scholarships and student loan relief to allow extra individuals to grow to be behavioral well being specialists, long run help employees, emergency medical companies workers, and different well being professionals. 

• Healthcare Training for ME, a program to broaden the supply of free and low-cost profession coaching to assist well being care employees advance their careers, help workforce coaching wants of well being care employers, and appeal to new employees to fast-growing fields. 

• The Caring for ME marketing campaign to teach and encourage residents to grow to be direct care suppliers serving older Mainers and folks with disabilities, in addition to scholarships and scholar mortgage reduction to allow extra individuals to grow to be long-term help employees and different well being professionals.

• Respite for ME, a program which supplies grants of as much as $2,000 to Maine households who’re caring for a member of the family at residence.

• Increasing funding to revive scholarships out there from the Doctors for Maine’s Future Scholarship, which helps college students enrolled within the Tufts University School of Medicine Maine Medical Center Maine Track Program and the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. 

The Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan is the Governor’s plan, accredited by the Legislature, to speculate practically $1 billion in Federal American Rescue Plan funds to enhance the lives of Maine individuals and households, assist companies, create good-paying jobs, and construct an economic system poised for future prosperity. For extra about Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, go to maine.gov/jobsplan.