(Associated Press) TOPEKA | U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Tuesday that $220

million in federal stimulus funds will be disbursed to programs across

the country to train workers in health care and other high-growth

industries.

Tuesday was the first day that training programs

could begin applying for the money through the Labor Department. Solis

unveiled the plan during a tour of the Shawnee County Community Health

Care Clinic in Topeka and the University of Kansas Medical Center in

Kansas City, Kan., saying health care services would be one of the

fastest-growing career fields over the next decade as the population

ages.

"We know there's a shortage," Solis said after touring the clinic.

She devoted much of her remarks to health care and President Barack

Obama's desire to push a health care reform bill through Congress this

summer. She said such training grants were part of the equation,

helping to provide an adequate work force to meet demands in rural

states and areas seeing high unemployment.

Solis said $25

million of the funds would be reserved for training in communities hurt

by the recent restructuring of the auto industry.

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