DWD Announces Grant Program to Strengthen Healthcare Workforce

MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Workforce (DWD) today announced a new grant program that will fund projects to address healthcare workforce challenges in Wisconsin’s rural communities. The Workforce Innovation Grant: Healthcare Employment, Access, and Rural Transformation (WIG: HEART) Program will award up to $150 million in grants over four years to nonprofit and government organizations to implement innovative plans to tackle pressing healthcare workforce challenges across the state.

Awards of $500,000 to $10 million are available through the program for nonprofit and government organizations to work with regional workforce partners on healthcare workforce solutions for rural and semi-rural regions across the state. In the first year, $4.9 million will be available. Funding will support projects with leading-edge, long-term solutions for rural healthcare workforce challenges that help employers find workers, and workers to prepare for and connect to better, higher-quality, and more family-sustaining jobs. These grants support reducing barriers to training and investing in healthcare employment programs. They follow the successful model of Gov. Evers’ Workforce Innovation Grant (WIG) Program.   ...more

Leo's notes: Healthcare workforce initiatives and housing policy are increasingly interconnected. Recruiting nurses, technicians, physicians, and other essential workers is only part of the equation—communities must also provide housing that is affordable and accessible for those workers.