It's estimated there are 3,000 open positions between the seven major health centers in Northeast Ohio; MetroHealth Medical Center, Summa Health System, The Cleveland Clinic, Elyria Medical Center, University Hospitals, Southwest General, and the Veteran's Administration.
Wednesday, the `Northeast Ohio Health Science and Innovation Coalition', which includes those centers, signed a deal with the Army Reserve they hope will reduce that number.
The unique partnership allows Reservists with military medical training to use THAT as the educational background that can fast-track them into civilian medical programs.
Coalition Treasurer and Summa Foundation President Augie Napoli says the program was born of necessity. He says the health care worker shortage is a national problem, and all of the region's hospitals are feeling it.
August Napoli, NOHSIC Treasurer:
" We can't allow this to just become someone else's problem. We need to partner with educational institutions, with work force investment boards, with all of the public and private resources there are out there to not only draw attention to the crisis but also to address it."
Medical training for reservists will be free, and they're promised preferential hiring status, once the training is completed.
