Close to 70 new health care jobs are expected to be generated by an infusion in government funding headed to Monroe County. 

The county, city of Rochester and the 1199SEIU will turn the funding into training. They'll develop certified nurse assistants, patient care technicians, pharmacy technicians, sterile processing technicians and phlebotomists.

The 1199SEIU Training & Employment Funds was awarded $300,000 by COMIDA to provide training and education for a minimum of 30 county residents for entry-level health care jobs. The new city of Rochester grant funding of $500,000 will provide training and support to an additional 35 to 40 workers.

"Over the last few years, the phlebotomy program has been our most asked-for program to offer," said Wendy Welling of the Rochester Employment Opportunity Center. "So when 1199SEIU said, 'hey, we have this wonderful partnership opportunity,' we jumped on board."

Phlebotomy technicians collect blood from patients and prepare the samples for testing.

The goal of this effort is to provide a health care career pathway for low-income and underserved communities that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It's the latest response to help alleviate ongoing health care staffing shortages in the state.