Union, health provider offer training to fill worker gaps in California health care

CALIFORNIA HAS LONG needed more health care workers, and the coronavirus pandemic only made the demand more pressing. Filling the gap is the goal of a unique joint venture that creates certificate programs to recruit and train new medical technicians, as well as lab and dental assistants throughout the state.

It’s called Futuro Health, a nonprofit venture by Kaiser Permanente, a Bay Area-based health system, and the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the California branch of 100,000 members of the national health care workers union.