RFA 20529 Increasing Training Capacity

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), through its Office of Primary Care and Health Systems Management and the Office of Healthcare Workforce Innovation, announces a competitive funding opportunity to expand training programs for healthcare workers across the state. Established in 2022, the Office of Healthcare Workforce Innovation was created to rebuild and grow New York’s healthcare workforce in response to ongoing shortages, particularly among nurses, allied health professionals, and entry-level care workers. The Increasing Training Capacity in Statewide Healthcare Facilities initiative represents a core investment of New York’s $10 billion multi-year healthcare plan, designed to support not-for-profit Article 28 healthcare facilities in developing innovative and sustainable training programs. The Department anticipates awarding approximately $32.5 million annually over five years (totaling up to $162.5 million) to eligible organizations that demonstrate strong mission alignment and readiness to expand their training capacity. The program’s purpose is to strengthen New York State’s healthcare infrastructure by enabling hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, and skilled nursing facilities to train new and existing staff more effectively. Funds may be used to create new training programs or expand current ones but may not supplant existing funding. Allowable expenses include tuition support, certification and licensing fees, backfill costs for staff replacements during training, wage subsidies for trainees, virtual training systems, recruitment and hiring of trainers, and purchase of training equipment such as simulation lab tools. Ineligible costs include facility renovations exceeding ten percent of the budget, orientation training, and unaccredited programs. Each application must clearly identify a regional or local workforce shortage and propose a measurable plan to address it through increased training capacity. Applicants must be Article 28 not-for-profit facilities legally operating in New York State, such as general hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, or residential health care facilities. Consortia of such facilities are also eligible. Each facility may submit only one application for the region in which it is located, with regions defined by Empire State Development designations. Examples include Capital, Central, Finger Lakes, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, Mohawk Valley, New York City, North Country, Southern Tier, and Western. The Department intends to fund at least three projects per region, subject to available resources and competitive scoring. Applicants must also be prequalified in the New York Statewide Financial System (SFS) at the time of submission and maintain that status throughout the award period. Applications are evaluated on five criteria: Mission Fit (20 points), Project Design (40 points), Administrative Capacity (10 points), Work Plan (10 points), and Budget (20 points). Proposals must include a detailed Work Plan (Attachment 4), Budget (Attachment 3), and other required forms including Proof of Eligibility, Vendor Responsibility Attestation, and Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) documentation. Programs will be evaluated for innovation, feasibility, scalability, and potential workforce impact. Reporting and evaluation requirements include quarterly outcome reports, annual summaries, and ongoing trainee-level data entry into the One-Stop Operating System (OSOS) to track licensure and certification outcomes statewide. Subcontracting is permitted up to 25% of the total award, though direct training partnerships with educational institutions are exempt from this limit. The application must be submitted electronically through the Statewide Financial System (SFS) portal (DOH01) under the event name “Increasing Training Capacity in Statewide Healthcare Facilities.” No paper, fax, or emailed applications will be accepted. Questions about the solicitation must be submitted in writing to the program’s official contact, Carrie Roseamelia, PhD, via IncreasingTrainingCapacity@health.ny.gov. The key dates include release on August 14, 2025; questions due by September 12, 2025; Q&A posted by October 6, 2025 (per Addendum #2); and final applications due by October 24, 2025, at 4:00 PM Eastern Time. Awards are expected to be announced in 2026, with contract terms running from October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2031. Funded programs will receive five-year contracts contingent upon continued state budget appropriations and satisfactory performance. Each grantee must comply with MWBE participation goals of 30% (15% MBE and 15% WBE), maintain fiscal accountability, and ensure compliance with New York State procurement and reporting standards. Awardees will be reimbursed for actual, allowable expenditures and may receive up to a 25% advance upon contract execution. Through this initiative, New York aims to address critical workforce shortages, expand training access in underserved regions, and build a resilient healthcare system capable of meeting the state’s long-term healthcare demands.