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White House prods health centers to hire more vets
The White House rolled out two initiatives Tuesday aimed at helping some of the nation’s more than 200,000 unemployed veterans land healthcare jobs.
The administration issued a challenge to community health centers to hire 8,000 veterans — roughly one per center site — over the next three years. And it said physician assistant programs that help train veterans would get priority grant funding.
“Military medics gain invaluable healthcare training and experience on the battlefield,” said Mary Wakefield, administrator of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). “And it’s important for us to help them put their good skills to use once they return home.”
The physician assistant initiative, meanwhile, seeks to promote programs with expedited curricula that can quickly train military medics for physician assistant jobs.
The government has invested $45 million to support physician assistant training programs since 2010. The HRSA will begin by providing technical assistance to more than 21 training programs to better serve veterans starting the week of Veterans Day.
The initiatives come on the heels of other White House efforts to put veterans back to work. Last month, the administration announced it would give grants in priority to nurse training programs that serve veterans by giving military medics credit for their service.
The jobless rate for veterans was 8.7 percent last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, adding up to more than 200,000 people. Those who served after the Sept. 11 attacks have been hit especially hard, with 11.5 percent unemployed last year.
