SEATTLE - The Healthcare Career Advancement Program (H-CAP) was awarded a $4.6 million grant that will include funding for creation of a program in King County to train hospital Environmental Service Workers in green energy, waste monitoring, and green cleaning practices that will provide career opportunities for entry level workers. The Energy Training Partnership Grant is awarded through the U.S. Department of Labor, and is part of the $100 million in green jobs training grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
The project is a labor-management partnership that includes H-CAP, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Swedish Medical Center, North Seattle Community College, and the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County. It will affect over 400 unionized healthcare workers in King County and include better training for new employees and additional training for current workers in energy efficiency and improved cleaning of hospitals. Implementation is expected to begin within three months and will build a national training standard for energy efficiency, waste reduction, and environmental practices in the healthcare industry.
“Entry-level cleaning jobs provide the first line of defense in our hospitals,” said Diane Sosne, RN and president of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW. “These healthcare workers will now have better training that will protect our environment, while also saving our hospitals money and moving employees up the career ladder to better paying jobs.”
“Creating a ‘greener’ campus has been a priority for us for many years, and has generated a wide variety of environmental initiatives across the organization, from environmental services to food and nutrition and even marketing,” said Robert Steigmeyer, Northwest Hospital’s senior vice president of operations and finance. “This grant provides a great opportunity to help our staff become even more knowledgeable about eco-friendly products and practices, and how we can use them to continue to ensure that Northwest Hospital is a good environmental citizen.“
“We are pleased to have this level of support and collaboration from King County to promote green jobs at Swedish. It will help us promote environmentally sound practices and provide new training and skills to our workforce,” said Joanne Suffis, Swedish Vice President of Human Resources.
“We are tremendously excited to assume a leadership role in the development of a common green technology training curriculum to be delivered to hospital environmental service workers throughout the country,” said Steve Miller, Executive Dean at North Seattle Community College. “Community and Technical colleges around America, including the other members of our own Seattle Community College District, will be able to utilize this training, confident that it has been developed through a collaborative process.”
The H-CAP Labor-Management partnership was one of only 25 national grant recipients. The Healthcare Career Advancement Program (H-CAP) is a national coalition of SEIU unions and employers that creates career ladders for healthcare workers through training and education opportunities. SEIU Healthcare 1199NW President Diane Sosne, RN is currently Labor Chair of the Board. The local program will be administered by the SEIU Healthcare 1199NW Multi-Employer Training Fund, a collectively-bargained entity.
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About SEIU Healthcare 1199NW: SEIU Healthcare 1199NW represents 22,000 nurses, healthcare employees, and mental health workers in hospitals, agencies, and clinics statewide. SEIU Healthcare is the nation’s largest and fastest-growing healthcare union, with more than 1 million healthcare workers united for quality patient care and good careers.