A new training program will be putting over 100 personal support workers to work across southwestern Ontario.
In a news conference at the Wallaceburg branch of the Chatham-Kent Public Library on Friday, Lambton-Kent-Middlesex and Minister of Labour MPP Monte McNaughton said the $2.5 million Grow Your Own partnership is run through the Windsor-based SE Career College of Health with a mix of on-line and in-person learning as well as on the job training.
“Within the next month, 109 people will be working as PSWs and in the health care sector. The first cohort started last year, the last cohort is just wrapping up their training,” McNaughton said. “Ultimately our goal is to train 27,000 new PSWs, 2000 new nurses to work in the health care system.”
The training program is run in partnership with 26 employers in Chatham-Kent, Windsor-Essex, and Lambton County.
“The partnership of Chatham-Kent Employment and Social Services, Ontario Works and the municipalities of Windsor and Lambton County is a model of how to address the shortage of essential health care workers,” said Darrin Canniff, Mayor of Chatham-Kent. “The program has provided 26 long-term care homes and health care providers with immediate and long-term staff at a time when we are reminded of how important these positions are to our community.”
Participants are paid by employers throughout the program and can also receive up to $3,000 to offset costs like travel and childcare. After finishing the training, graduates will be ready to begin rewarding, full-time careers as PSWs with their respective employers.