2021 Stimulus Plan to Fund 100,000 Healthcare Career Positions
By Melisha Daniels - March 29, 2021The American Rescue Plan, signed on March 11, 2021, goes beyond providing economic relief in the form of the cash stimulus payments. The bill also includes an economic investment meant to triple the number of people in community healthcare career positions.
The proposal earmarks funding for programs geared toward training and hiring local community members to perform positions created as a result of the pandemic; like Covid-19 testers and tracers. Then, ultimately transitioning these essential healthcare workers to long-term career positions providing community healthcare services in settings, such as a hospital, doctors' office or clinic.
By increasing the public healthcare workforce by an additional 100,000 positions, the most recent stimulus plan aims to improve the quality of healthcare and reduce hospitalizations in low-income and predominately Black and brown communities.
Blacks in Healthcare
We need more Black healthcare service professionals.
Cultural Barriers
Cultural barriers are challenges that occur when people from different cultures, different backgrounds or different languages try to communicate. Cultural barriers in healthcare settings can result in damaging or even tragic results.
EverydayHealth.com, Black Health Facts, show dark statistical trends such as dramatic increases in heart failure rates among young African Americans. And a relationship between racist experiences and chronic inflammation.
Racism in Healthcare
In an article published on tcf.org, researchers not only refer to racism as a stressor on African-Americans' health, they describe it as a determining factor in 'who gets access to what' in relation to resources like healthcare. The authors explain that the healthcare system, itself, is a perpetuator of racism and biased treatment practices.
Discriminatory treatment in healthcare services may not be apparent, but manifests overtly during the medical treatment process. Healthcare practitioners display discrimination by;
- Providing less pain management therapy to Blacks patients, than they do to white patients with the same illness.
- Denying access to specialists and medical treatment options, and/or
- Exhibiting poor patient communication
Increased Black presence in Healthcare service roles could reduce cultural barriers and begin to repair the effects of discrimination in healthcare treatment.
HealthCare Service Career Positions & Pay
From Medical Technicians to Medical Transcriptionists the demand is high for skilled and trained healthcare service professionals. Healthcare Service career roles include but are not limited to Pharmacists, Dentist and Dental Assistants, Nurse Practitioner, Nurse and Certified Nursing Assistant. Healthcare Service training programs can last anywhere from 6 weeks to 7 years depending on your career choice. Starting pay ranges from about $40,000 per year to $60,000 per year depending on your state, education and career choice.
