Idaho Falls Hospital Becomes First Medical Center To Receive Training Grants

Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center

The Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center will receive up to $31,500 to train ten registered nurses and a child life specialist for its new Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

The hospital is the first medical center to receive a workforce development training grant through the Labor Department.  The grants are a reimbursement of training dollars, paid for by a 3 percent tax on businesses.

The department reports the average wage for these jobs is $24 per hour.  In order to receive a training reimbursement, businesses must pay at least $12 an hour plus benefits. 

“The Workforce Development Council, which oversees the training fund, authorized access to the fund for health care providers a year ago to help them cope with the state’s shortage of personnel in many health care occupations. Until then, the fund was open only to businesses that sold products or services outside their region of the state.” – Labor Department

BioLife Plasma Services has also received a training grant of up to $524,000.  The company is training 77 new employees for its offices in Meridian, Ammon and Hayden.  These jobs pay $14.88 on average.

Since the workforce development training fund was created in 1996, it has reimbursed 200 companies more $38 million, according to the department.

Still, as StateImpact has reported over the last year, companies that receive these training grants don’t have to commit to retaining these employees for any length of time.  At least 11 training grant recipients no longer do business in Idaho.