Obama Administration Announces $1 Billion for Health Technology Job Creation

The Federal Government announced nearly $1 billion in Recovery Act awards to train over 10,000 new health IT workers and promote meaningful adoption of emerging technology in the health care industry. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis made the announcement on February 12.

More than $225 million of the award will be used to train 15,000 people for jobs in health care technology and other high growth fields. Over 10,000 job openings will become available over the next two years in areas such as nursing, pharmacy technology, and information technology. These jobs are in addition to the over 3,000 technology workers that health IT departments are expected to hire over the next few months.

“Health information technology can make our health care system more efficient and improve the quality of care we all receive,” said HHS Secretary Sebelius. She added that these grants are the first of their kind and will help support health care providers in hiring and training new employees in crucial technology-related fields.

The grants are part of an over $100 billion investment the Obama administration is making as part of the Recovery Act to ensure long-term economic growth and job creation in emerging industries.

The current commitment of close to $1 billion will help ensure that many more Americans are able to take advantage of well-paid, secure employment in the emerging health care IT field.

Sebelius, Solis Announce Nearly $1 Billion Recovery Act Investment in Advancing Use of Health IT, Training Workers for Health Jobs of the Future