LaGuardia Receives $1.2 Million Grant From Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to Enhance Program for Internationally-Trained Healthcare Professionals
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (January 22, 2025) — LaGuardia Community College/CUNY is a resource for students and working professionals focused on many disciplines and industries. The College has been ranked as a leader in Nursing and Healthcare, and it’s now enhancing one of its programs to help Internationally Trained Professionals (ITPs) from the healthcare field improve their English language skills and rebuild their careers in New York with help through a generous grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.
The Center for Immigrant Education and Training (CIET)’s NYC Welcome Back Center (NYCWBC), under the Continuing Education and Workforce Development Division, was recently awarded $1.2 million for its NYC Welcome Back Center Project to Support Internationally Trained Healthcare Professionals. The project will assist immigrant healthcare professionals in restarting their career pathways, aiming to ensure that a pipeline of qualified and diverse healthcare workers is available to meet the healthcare needs of all New Yorkers.
The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, the largest grantmaking organization focused exclusively on advancing the health and well-being of New Yorkers, supports nonprofit organizations and initiatives to meet community health needs and achieve equitable health outcomes across New York State.
The NYC Welcome Back Center Project to Support Internationally-Trained Healthcare Professionals project will enroll eligible participants in Contextualized Healthcare Bridge for English Language Learners courses, at both the introductory and intermediate levels that will help them succeed in subsequent healthcare trainings and prepare them to return to their fields. In addition to language courses, CIET will also pilot a NYC Welcome Back Center Alumni Outreach Project to create a network of professional alumni to help them navigate any barriers to success and achieve their language, training, and professional goals. Alumni will share employment and further training opportunities available upon program completion. This combination of bridge courses, peer networking, and employment support will improve the pipeline of bilingual and bi-cultural healthcare professionals into workforce training and quality healthcare careers in New York City.
“We are very grateful to receive the generous support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation,” said Dr. Paula Da Silva Michelin, Director of LaGuardia’s CIET/NYCWBC. “The center encounters many healthcare professionals whose English level is too low to participate successfully in healthcare training programs leading to certification and employment. We hope to help these participants qualify and transition successfully from these programs to the healthcare field.”
According to Dr. DaSilva Michelin, having low English language skills is a significant barrier for immigrants with professional training and experience in the healthcare field who must pursue lower-quality employment options. This then impacts the healthcare industry, where many positions go unfilled for lack of qualified applicants.
“There is a strong need for more lower-level English language courses contextualized to the healthcare sector that will prepare these ITPs to succeed in higher-level bridge and credentialing courses,” she said.
In 2011, CIET established the New York City Welcome Back Center (NYCWBC), an affiliate of the national Welcome Back Initiative, to help its internationally trained professional (ITP) clients navigate the New York State re-credentialing process in their healthcare specialties; advise them about NYC career ladders and alternative pathways in healthcare; assess their English language and job-readiness skills to provide individualized feedback; and refer clients to appropriate English language, test preparation, professional advisement, and job placement services. The NYCWBC aims to reduce underemployment and “brain waste” by supporting these professionals in achieving their career aspirations in New York City.
Dr. Da Silva Michelin said support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation will help LaGuardia develop a sequence of pre-bridge and bridge courses that will enable participants to improve their English sufficiently to succeed in subsequent healthcare trainings.
In recent years the NYCWBC has worked primarily with immigrant nurses, but through this new initiative, the center will expand opportunities for ITPs with a broader range of experience in the healthcare industry to build their language skills, complete additional requisite training, and connect them with employment through our employer networks, all while having access to the support services at the college that help eliminate any barriers to completion.
With the support from the Mother Cabrini Foundation, LaGuardia will implement the NYC Welcome Back Center Project to Support Internationally-Trained Healthcare Professionals as a three-year program serving a total of 360 immigrants from the healthcare sector.
Eligible internationally trained healthcare professionals can apply to participate in the NYC Welcome Back Center and receive more information by emailing NYCWBC@lagcc.cuny.edu.
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The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of New Yorkers, bolster the health outcomes of vulnerable communities, eliminate barriers to care, and bridge gaps in health services. Named after a tireless advocate for immigrants, children, and the poor, the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation funds programs and initiatives across New York State that either provide direct healthcare services or address the social determinants of health. For more information, visit https://www.cabrinihealth.org
LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), a Hispanic-Serving Institution, located in Long Island City, Queens offers more than 50 associate degrees and academic certificates, and more than 65 continuing education programs to prepare New Yorkers for transfer to senior colleges and rewarding jobs and careers. An institution of the City University of New York (CUNY), the College reflects the legacy of our namesake, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, the former NYC mayor beloved for his advocacy of the underserved. Since 1971, LaGuardia’s academic programs and support services have advanced the socioeconomic mobility of students from Queens, NYC and beyond.
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