Evaluation staff conducted site visits to each demonstration grantee and collected data on training participants, services delivered, outcomes, and customer satisfaction. The evaluation was guided by an expert Advisory Panel that included researchers, representatives of management and organized labor in the health care field, and managers of retraining programs.

The evaluation assessed the retraining projects' effectiveness in addressing the needs of the participants and employers and examined the planning and service delivery strategies that allowed hospitals to adapt successfully to rapid change and uncertainty in their local health care systems. The evaluation highlighted the importance of extensive advance planning and communications among the partners responsible for the retraining. The most successful projects were those that integrated their planning and training efforts closely with the overall organizational restructuring strategy, so that retrained workers' skills matched well the needs of their new jobs.

Publications:

Evaluation of the Health Care Workers Retraining Demonstration Evaluation Summary Report (Mar, 1998) (PDF:924KB)
The Health Care Workers (HCW) Retraining Demonstration examined the potential of early retraining for non-managerial health care workers whose jobs were targeted for elimination. The demonstration tested strategies to preserve individual jobs and build marketable skills, while supporting restructuring efforts that would stabilize the health care industry, thereby preventing future layoffs. This report summarizes the results of the evaluation of the HCW Retraining Demonstration.