Futuro Health offers pandemic-readiness training to California's licensed vocational nurses for anticipated COVID-19 surge

$1M in seed funding to train up to 100,000 LVNs/LPNs

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Apr 08, 2020, 11:00 ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Futuro Health, a California-based nonprofit established by Kaiser Permanente and SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) to address the nation's allied health worker shortage, today announced it has expanded its education offerings to prepare frontline health care workers for an expected surge in COVID-19 cases, committing $1 million to launch a new pandemic-readiness program.

Through a collaborative effort by Futuro Health, Kaiser Permanente, SEIU-UHW, Pima Medical Institute and The Education Fund, a new online course Pandemic Readiness for LVN/LPNs became available April 6 beginning in California, with plans to expand beyond the state. According to the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians*, there are over 100,000 LVNs (also called "licensed practical nurses" in other states) serving the state's 40 million residents. Futuro Health will waive all fees and tuition for these practitioners.

Governor Gavin Newsom's announcement of the anticipated need of 50,000 new beds in repurposed, pop-up and existing facilities will create a critical need for workers to provide care. To meet the magnitude of this workforce demand, the Governor recently announced plans to change scope of practice restrictions to increase doctors and nurses' capacity, allowing other care team members to expand their typical scope of care. This will increase demand for LVNs/LPNs, respiratory therapists, medical assistants and certified nursing assistants.

"California will need licensed vocational nurses equipped with the right training to help patients through this pandemic," said Bechara Choucair, MD, senior vice president and chief health officer for Kaiser Permanente. "LVNs and LPNs will have a big role to play, not only in hospitals but also in alternate care facilities and non-hospital settings."

The five-chapter pandemic readiness course, designed by Pima Medical Institute and conducted entirely online, will take LVNs/LPNs approximately six hours to complete. The chapters cover topics including infection control techniques, ventilator patient care, disease progression, and improving personal resiliency.

Designed to be self-paced and available online, the course can help prepare LVNs/LPNs to perform additional functions on the care team in preparation for a temporary expansion in their scope of work.

"The magnitude of the crisis demands that we come up with solutions of similar scale," said Fred Freeman, CEO of Pima Medical Institute. "We are pleased to contribute our curriculum expertise to the nation's crisis."

Futuro Health will offer digital badges upon successful completion of online coursework and accompanying competency assessments. The course augments and fortifies existing skillsets of LVNs/LPNs amidst the COVID-19 environment, especially for those entities that may not have the resources to create their own training programs to upskill staff.

"This program can help equip frontline workers with the skills to help meet the needs of this unprecedented crisis," said Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health. "We hope employers will help spread the word among their workforce about this training."

Learn more about the Pandemic Readiness for LVN/LPNs online course .

Subscribe to Futuro Health updates at futurohealth.org/connect-with-us/.

*The Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (BVNPT) data is provided through the Department of Consumer Affairs' online Data Portal. Mention of the organization does not imply their endorsement, as the BVNPT does not make endorsements.

About Futuro Health: Futuro Health improves the health and wealth of communities by growing the largest network of credentialed allied health workers in the nation starting in California. We believe investing in education and skills training and retraining results in better-paying jobs for workers, better service for patients and better workers for employers to hire. Kaiser Permanente and Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) partnered to establish Futuro Health in January 2020 with a $130 million commitment.

About PIMA Medical Institute : Founded in Tucson in 1972, PMI has built a reputation as one of the best medical career colleges in the Western United States. Pima Medical's mission is to improve the quality of people's lives by providing the best value in medical career education. PMI offers certificate, associate and bachelor's degree programs – all in the healthcare field. It also has a robust online learning division. Programs focus on medical, dental and veterinary careers.

About The Education Fund : The SEIU-UHW & Joint Employer Education Fund is a multi-employer labor management partnership serving 105,000 SEIU healthcare workers across 17 employers and 5 states to advance their careers through innovative education and training solutions.

About Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW): SEIU-UHW is a healthcare justice union of more than 97,000 healthcare workers, patients and healthcare consumers united to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all Californians, provided by valued and respected healthcare workers.

About Kaiser Permanente : Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.2 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health.

Contact: Michelle Jimenez | (210) 315-6252
[email protected]

SOURCE Futuro Health