With an expected rise in health care-related construction and renovation projects in Connecticut, competition for jobs is heating up. And, in an industry starved for work, construction workers are looking for any type of leg-up on the competition.
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters union in Connecticut thinks it has one.
The union has established a special training program aimed at preparing its members specifically for health-care related construction.
Called Best Practices in Health Care, the 32-hour program combines hands-on experience with classroom work and teaches members how to reduce the risk of contamination while working in health care facilities.
The union invested about $20,000 to establish the program. It’s a down payment that union officials say is necessary to make its members more competitive.
Since hiring union workers is typically more expensive for construction projects, the carpenters union sees the training as a potential trump card when competing for jobs, particularly at a time when reducing hospital-acquired medical conditions is becoming paramount to hospitals and other health care providers.
“Competition is very tough right now,” said Bruce Lydem, district business manager in Connecticut of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. “You have 15 to 20 contractors vying for jobs. The training is meant to add extra value for our members.”
Lydem said no one outside the union is doing this type of training in Connecticut. Best Practices in Health Care was originally started by a carpenters union in Minnesota and has quickly spread across the country. The carpenters union in Connecticut is the first New England group to do it.
Timothy Moriarty, who is the class instructor, said 100 union members have been trained so far. Trainees learn about barrier and dust control methods, how to contain pathogens, protect patients, and productively perform work without disrupting hospital operations.
The hands-on learning is done within the confines of the carpenters union hall in Wallingford, which has been fitted with makeshift hospital rooms.
Trainees learn things like how to install proper air tight soft walls that prevent mold, asbestos, or other pathogens from escaping a construction zone and potentially coming in contact with patients.
They also learn about HIPPA, security, safety code systems, hazardous materials, ventilation assessments and maintaining proper air quality.
The training is supplemented with a detailed check list designed to be used onsite at construction jobs to ensure all proper safety precautions are being followed.
A task like removing a moldy tile has specific guidelines, including requiring the use of a portable cube that seals in the work, preventing mold from spreading into remote areas.
The important thing, Lydem says, is to protect immune compromised patients who can’t fight disease. Patient safety it the No. 1 priority, and it is particularly important to hospital’s bottom lines, he said.
Exposing patients to contaminants can lead to hospital-acquired infections and land hospitals in trouble legally and financially. And with the federal government and insurance companies increasingly withholding reimbursements for care related to hospital acquired conditions, hospitals are becoming much more safety conscious about the way they operate. Regulatory bodies also commonly make on-site visits during construction projects to make sure proper precautions are taken to shield patients, Lydem said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 100,000 Americans die each year from infections they get in a hospital.
“It’s more money upfront but you are saving money in the long run,” Lydem said. “We are looking to give hospitals that peace of mind.”
Lydem said the training is becoming increasingly important to hospitals across the country.
In Pittsburgh, for example, some hospitals require workers to have the training before they can do construction in their facilities. Lydem said he hopes to establish similar qualification standards in Connecticut.
Lydem said he uses the training program as one of the key marketing tools to sell the union workforce when he talks to hospital officials who are planning construction projects.
They’ve done recent work at St. Vincent’s, St. Mary’s, and St. Francis hospitals, Lydem said.
