WASHINGTON — Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco today announced a $202,000 grant to Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation to conduct a study aimed at finding ways to retain older workers in health-care-industry careers.

“As workers age out of health-care-industry careers, such as nursing, radiology, respiratory therapy, physical therapy and laboratory positions, there will be an increased shortage of skilled workers to meet industry demand,” said DeRocco. “This project will explore how employers in the health-care industry can retain mature workers in these critical fields.”

Today’s health-care industry faces a unique challenge: while it is at risk of losing its most experienced workers, the industry and its need for skilled workers continues to grow. Although steps are being taken to increase the pipeline of workers into health-care fields, keeping older workers is a critical strategy for meeting the workforce needs of this industry in the coming years.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has identified the health-care industry as one of 14 targeted sectors that is projected to add substantial numbers of new jobs to the economy or affect the growth of other industries.

With health-care employees either nearing retirement age or having recently retired, this one-year project will examine what incentives or conditions would persuade them to continue in their jobs. Results from the study will be made available to others in the health-care field. The DOL’s Employment and Training Administration will draw on the study’s results to help its work in leading a federal interagency taskforce on older workers.

Partners in this project include Johns Hopkins Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Health System and the Hospital Corporation of America.