Conference aims to improve conditions for community health workers

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - A conference in Montpelier Thursday was aimed at helping to re-imagine the future of community health workers.

Community health workers serve in settings including health centers, hospitals, social service organizations, and prisons. They often serve rural and low-income people and Vermonters of color.

But many of those positions are grant funded and don’t have the same access to resources and training as other health care workers.

The Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center recently received a $520,000 grant to set up a new program to recruit and train in a variety of settings. “They’ve been working in Vermont but they’re not recognized as a sustainable workforce and what we’re trying to do is create systems and infrastructure so they can be incorporated into these organizations that need them,” said Katina Cummings, the project director for the Vermont Community Health Worker Workforce Initiative

Organizers say community health workers are unique in how versatile their skills are.

Copyright 2022 WCAX. All rights reserved.