Healthcare Career Hub

Kingsborough Community College, Medgar Evers College And Brooklyn College Awarded $9.3 Million To Launch Healthcare Career Hub

Kingsborough Community College, Medgar Evers College, and Brooklyn College have been awarded $9.3 million to launch the Healthcare Career Hub of Central and South Brooklyn, a new workforce ecosystem made possible under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Workforce Development Initiative (WDI). The hub will have three key objectives:

– Expand and enhance the healthcare workforce in Central and South Brooklyn.
– Build a healthcare high school to career pipeline for students.
– Match well-prepared college graduates with excellent healthcare employment opportunities.

The collaboration and award announcement took place yesterday at Brooklyn College. Kingsborough Community College President Dr. Claudia Schrader joined Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Brooklyn College President Dr. Michelle J. Anderson, who hosted the press conference, Medgar Evers College President Dr. Patricia Ramsey, and NYS Sen. Kevin Parker.

The presidents of the three Brooklyn-based colleges delighted yesterday in celebrating a healthcare career collaboration that will benefit residents, employers, and students in the Central and South Brooklyn communities.

“Today, we established yet another strong branch of partnership, which is now added to the many that already exist, and I know this one will also bear much-needed fruit,” said Schrader.

“As the only community college in Brooklyn, Kingsborough is uniquely positioned, prepared – and excited – to receive this support, along with our sister institutions, to renovate and refurbish the Health Sciences spaces on our campuses,” noted Schrader. “This funding will add to the colleges’ and University’s efforts to support minority-owned and women enterprises and help to advance our health/science programs, prepare healthcare workers and address the healthcare needs of Brooklyn and beyond. I thank the Governor’s Office for supporting us in making an indelible difference in the lives of Brooklynites and New Yorkers.”

WDI was inaugurated in 2019, with the focus of investing $175 million throughout New York State for innovative, creative, and regionally customized workforce development projects. Awards under this Consolidated Funding Application support strategic regional efforts that meet businesses’ short-term workforce needs, address long-term industry needs, improve regional talent pipelines, enhance flexibility and adaptability of local workforce entities, and expand workplace learning opportunities. In the first round of WDI funding, more than $70 million was awarded to 225 organizations to support regionally significant industries in emerging fields with growing demands for jobs. Funding supports critical job training and employment opportunities in high-demand industries for over 51,000 New Yorkers across the State.

The second round of WDI funding totals $48 million statewide, which includes the $9.3 million allocated to the three colleges. KCC’s Maritime Technology Apprenticeship Program was awarded $857,543 in the first round.

“I believe that what is happening here today will be a model for other colleges to realize that there is no reason for competition. It’s all about collaboration,” said Hochul. “We have a problem; we have underserved communities with incredible human talent and potential just waiting to be tapped. We have to get those individuals to see the opportunities and a better future for themselves, starting now.”

Anderson noted that Central and South Brooklyn are among the most vulnerable areas in New York state regarding health and healthcare disparities. “The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated those disparities. This initiative will address a shortage of healthcare professionals in this area and will prepare students for healthcare careers,” she said.

Rodríguez expressed great approval of the collaboration. “As the Chancellor of CUNY, it gives me extra joy when I get to see our campuses working together, leveraging that strength of being anchor institutions in their own spaces and, in this case, working on behalf of the communities of Brooklyn, particularly Central and South Brooklyn. This is CUNY at its best,” he said. “I am delighted that the funding will go to renovating the curriculum so that it is updated and also to renovate facilities. We want our students to be trained in state-of-the-art facilities.”

Kingsborough will use the funding to renovate one of its temporary buildings to become the Health Sciences Center. This building, which currently houses the Paramedic and Polysomnography programs, will be remodeled and upgraded to include the Physical Therapy Assistant and Surgical Technology programs, as well as lab spaces and faculty offices for the Mental Health and Human Services and Chemical Dependency Counseling programs.

Co-locating this cluster of programs will enhance collaboration, facilitate the expansion of existing programs, and position the college to expand synergistic programs such as Occupational Therapist Assistant, Respiratory Care, Radiological Technology and Medical Laboratory Technician.

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