Byline: JOSHUA HURWIT Staff writer
COLONIE -- With her stack of resumes and leather-bound notebook, Erin Walier worked the floor.
``I've been wanting to get my foot in the door,'' Walier said as she eyed the more-than-60 tables spread throughout Guptill's Arena on Route 9 in Latham Wednesday.
Walier, from Colonie, was among the hundreds of people who spent part of the day at the skating rink for ``Health Care: Get Into It!,'' billed by organizers as one of the largest health care job and career fairs in the Capital Region.
Sponsored by Renaissance Corp. of Albany, the state Department of Labor, the Iroquois Healthcare Alliance and the North East New York Association for Health Care Recruitment, the daylong event featured representatives from area hospitals, nursing homes, schools and community organizations.
Shortly after noontime, Walier was feeling pretty good: Ellis Hospital in Schenectady appeared interested in what the 19-year-old, a radiology student at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, had to offer.
``They seemed nice,'' she said.
Statistics show there are many reasons for Walier to be optimistic.
The Department of Labor projects a steady increase in health care jobs across upstate New York, as the nation ages and demands higher levels of health care. In 2010, for example, nearly 700 people will be needed in the Capital Region as medical records and health information technicians, a 58 percent jump from the employment level in 2000, the department predicts. Physician assistants, dental hygienists and medical technicians are other jobs expected to remain in high demand.
But Irene McQueen, a human resources generalist at Ellis, knew exactly what she wanted the job fair to yield: ``Hopefully, we'll get a nurse out of here. At least one.'' The starting salary for a registered nurse -- minus the $2,000 bonus for a night or weekend shift -- hovers around $19.40 an hour, she said.
Job-seeker Keenon Perry, 39, said the shortage of health care workers has led him to reconsider his current career in retail, where he earns about $12.50 an hour. ``I'm sick of what I'm doing,'' said Perry, clutching a plastic bag stuffed with brochures, stress balls and pencils collected from various booths at the job fair.
A training course in medical billing would pique his interest -- though he's seeking a salary boost of $10,000 to $15,000, said Perry of Burnt Hills.
The graying of America hasn't been good to everyone, though.
``It just kind of caught up with us,'' said Gary Fitzgerald, president of the Iroquois Health Care Alliance, a Clifton Park-based trade group that represents 57 hospitals in 31 New York counties. ``Over the next 5 to 10 years, we will have health care work force areas that we won't be able to fill.''
``It's totally a buyer's market -- (prospective workers) have the advantage,'' added Michael Altieri, director of human resources at Good Samaritan Lutheran Health Care Center, an adult home in Delmar.
Altieri, who manned a booth at the fair, wasn't discussing the company's pay scale. He fears competition from other facilities that lure workers with signing bonuses, higher wages and better hours.
For his part, Altieri taped an employee benefits summary to the table. Joshua Hurwit can be reached at 454-5517 or by e-mail at jhurwit@timesunion.com.
FACTS:Top jobs Six jobs in the health care field are expected to be among the 25 fastest-growing occupations in the Capital Region over the next decade: Rank /// Title /// % change /// 2000 jobs /// 2010 jobs* No. 4 /// Medical records and health information technicians /// 58.1 /// 430 /// 680 No. 14 /// Physician assistants /// 41.3 /// 460 /// 650 No. 17 /// Speech-language pathologists /// 36.0 /// 500 /// 680 No. 20 /// Physical therapists /// 34.5 /// 840 /// 1,130 No. 22 /// Dental hygienists /// 32.2 /// 590 /// 780 No. 23 /// Occupational therapists /// 31.6 /// 380 /// 500 * Projected Source: State Department of Labor
CAPTION(S):
MICHAEL P. FARRELL/TIMES UNION LATEEFAH WATSON of Troy fills out a job application during a health care career fair Wednesday at Guptill's Arena in Latham.
