Oath, a subsidiary of Verizon, has awarded a $19,557 community grant to Niagara Falls Memorial Center for its Niagara Community care coordination training project. The funds are included in $427,826 awarded to 20 community organizations by Oath's Yahoo Community Fund for Niagara County and Oath's Yahoo Community Benefit Fund.
"We are most grateful to Oath and to Verizon for this funding, which will enable us to partner with Niagara County Community College to provide free care coordination training to additional local residents," Memorial Chief Operating Officer Sheila K. Kee said. "The training is the first of its kind in Western New York and gives those who are employed or seeking employment in health care important multidisciplinary care coordination skills and competencies."
The 10-week course is taught at Memorial's Golisano Center for Community Health and entails 40 hours of classroom training. In June of this year, 19 students who were enrolled in the first class received care coordination training certificates from Niagara County Community College.
In addition to funding classroom instruction, the Yahoo grant will support the development of training videos, in-service instruction and education to health care consumers.
"There is a tremendous local demand for care coordinators. The community grant from Oath and Verizon will enable us to train more people to meet that demand. This will support the area's future economic growth by ensuring that care coordinators have the skills they need to succeed in these well-paying jobs," Kee said.
Created in 2015, the Community Fund is part of Oath's $170 million agreement with Empire State Development to expand its Niagara County data center and establish a customer care center.
