The New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) celebrated the conclusion of National Workforce Development Month with a graduation ceremony at LaGuardia Community College last week, welcoming the latest batch of healthcare finance and operations professionals.
Dozens of graduates from LaGuardia’s Healthcare Finance and Operations Training Program, which connects low-income New Yorkers with high-paying jobs in fast-growing industries such as healthcare, celebrated their graduation at LaGuardia Community College on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The tuition-free program is designed for low-income New Yorkers with a high school diploma or equivalent and provides training in non-clinical positions within New York’s healthcare system. The six-month program prepares New Yorkers for entry-level roles in healthcare finance, such as revenue cycle and patient access coordination regardless of their economic background or education.
The recent class of graduates – Cohort 14 – represented the largest graduation class in the decade-long history of the program, with 97% of students successfully completely the most recent program. LaGuardia said it is currently finalizing job placements for the recent graduates.
SBS said the recent graduation has come shortly after two significant agency milestones, with SBS connecting more than 81,000 New Yorkers to good-paying jobs since the beginning of the Adams Administration. SBS further stated that it has now served more than 250,000 New Yorkers through its 18 Workforce1 Career Centers since Mayor Eric Adams took office.
SBS Commissioner Dynishal Gross said workforce training programs can simultaneously change students’ professional trajectories and meet the needs of employers across the city.
“Health systems rely on quality operations, billing, nursing, and paraprofessional staff to function. These roles are not just critical to the industry – they also offer a solid career ladder and opportunity for growth for New Yorkers of all backgrounds,” Gross said in a statement welcoming the recent graduation ceremony.
Adolfo Carrión Jr., the deputy mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce, described the healthcare industry as one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic industries in New York City. Carrión added that the Adams Administration has invested in the development healthcare support professionals because of that growth.
Meanwhile, Sunil Gupta, Vice President of Adult Continuing Education and Workforce Development at LaGuardia, welcomed SBS’s partnership with the college and said the program continues to help low-income New Yorkers launch healthcare careers.
“We are immensely grateful for SBS’s partnership, which allows us to offer training programs that help New Yorkers launch healthcare careers and fill critical skills gaps—both as frontline clinicians and essential behind-the-scenes professionals,” Gupta said in a statement.
Recent cohorts of the Healthcare Finance and Operations Training Program have achievement job placement rates between 83% and 87%.
Isaac Guzman, who graduated with Cohort 13 of the program, now works at Mount Sinai as a billing coordinator and payment poster. Guzman revealed that he plans to put the nine college credits he earned for completing the program toward a potential associate degree at LaGuardia.
“I want to keep learning as much as I can,” Guzman said. “I would like to go back to school, at least part-time, to get certifications and any other degrees that would be useful, such as a bachelor’s in healthcare administration.”
