Taking a break from who is hiring and who was hired, we rounded up some reading on the state of the healthcare workforce. Like many things in our lives for the few years the pandemic has taken a toll on it, the healthcare workforce might be on the top of the list of disruption. With 18% of healthcare workers having left their jobs and another 12% being laid off, what are the solutions for healthcare as a whole? You can’t open a paper, magazine, or watch news and not hear about the crisis that has evolved. Here are some insights and reports.
In the News
Poll Finds 55% of Healthcare Workers Say They Will Seek New Job
Even five years after the Covid-19 pandemic peaked, burnout remains an issue for the US healthcare workforce, according to a survey by The Harris Poll that was commissioned by Strategic Education. More than half of healthcare workers, 55%, say they will look for job openings and interview for or switch to a new role in the next year. It also found that 84% feel they are taken for granted. Concerns over burnout remain even as the US faces shortages of healthcare workers, according to The Harris Poll.
MSU Receives CPE Healthcare Workforce Investment grant
Through its nursing and imaging sciences programs, Morehead State University has a well-known reputation for producing qualified medical professionals ready to make an immediate impact in the field. Kentucky’s Council for Postsecondary Education is providing a grant for financial assistance and job placement for MSU students in these fields.
Congress Reintroduces AHA-supported, Bipartisan Workforce Bill Supporting Foreign nurses, Physicians
Bipartisan, bicameral legislation supported by the AHA to address the ongoing nurse and physician shortage was reintroduced in Congress recently. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (H.R. 5283 /S. 2759) would recapture green cards that were previously authorized by Congress but were unused. The legislation would allot up to 25,000 unused immigrant visas for nurses and 15,000 unused immigrant visas for physicians. The bill also requires employers to attest that individuals who receive the visas will not displace American employees. Eligible foreign medical professionals must also meet licensing requirements, pay filing fees and clear national security and criminal history background checks before they can receive recaptured visas.
Capitol Hill Briefing Highlights State Workforce Partnerships
Opportunity Colleges at Work: Building State Workforce Partnerships brought together higher education leaders, state officials, and industry partners to showcase how colleges are teaming up with states and employers to tackle workforce shortages in innovative ways. The event featured remarks from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and a panel consisting of George Mason University President Gregory Washington, Labouré College of Healthcare President Lily Hsu, Ascentria Care Alliance President and CEO Angela Bovill, and Inova Health System President and Chief of Clinical Enterprise John Moynihan.
How Trump’s Immigration Policies Are Impacting Health Care
The Trump administration’s immigration policies are negatively impacting health care, as arrests and deportations have disrupted care for some patients, and fears of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have caused patients to delay needed care. In addition, experts are projecting that Trump’s policies will exacerbate existing staff shortages in the health care industry. In fact, some health care workers have already been deported or denied re-entry into the United States, and others attempting to start work in the US are reporting barriers to entering the country.
Moore Announces Grants Toward MD Health Care Workforce
Gov. Wes Moore joined the Maryland Department of Labor to recently announce nearly $600,000 in grants designated to strengthen the state’s health care workforce. According to the Department of Labor, the funds will provide career pathways and increase retention among health care workers. Made possible through the Career Pathways for Healthcare Workers Program and Direct Care Workforce Innovation Program, the grants will also offer occupational training opportunities for more than 300 health care professionals.
SUNY Canton Partners with Caring Gene® to Strengthen Healthcare Workforce in Upstate New York
SUNY Canton has entered a partnership with the Caring Gene® Career Pathways Training Program (CPT) to address healthcare workforce shortages in the hardest-hit areas of New York State, reduce barriers to career advancement, and support individuals seeking to become compassionate professionals in the healthcare industry.
Health Sciences, UK St. Claire partner to build rural health care workforce with CPE award
The University of Kentucky Physician Assistant Studies (PA) department is proud to announce its continued partnership with UK St. Claire in a groundbreaking initiative to address Kentucky’s rural health care workforce shortage. The collaboration has been strengthened by the recent awarding of the Healthcare Workforce Investment Fund (HWIF) Partnership Proposal from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE).
To Read
How Workforce Innovation Can Sustain the US Health Care System
The US health care system is bracing for unprecedented pressure as the population ages, costs rise, and workforce gaps widen. A new report from the TIAA Institute and High Lantern Group suggests that the path to a more sustainable future lies in how health systems recruit, train, and retain employees, while embracing innovations like artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity and reduce burnout.
New AHA Report Finds Workplace and Community Violence Cost Hospitals More than $18 Billion Annually
The American Hospital Association (AHA) released a new, comprehensive report that measures the substantial financial resources hospitals and health systems spend on preventing and responding to violence in their facilities and communities. The report was prepared for the AHA by Harborview Injury and Prevention Research Center (HIPRC), part of the University of Washington School of Medicine. It analyzed the financial costs and broader impacts of violence and threatening behavior and found that the total financial cost of violence to hospitals in 2023 was estimated at $18.27 billion. These costs include health care treatment for victims, security staffing for health care facilities and violence prevention programs/ training, among other costs.
ICYMI
And ICYMI – Experts weigh in with predictions on targeting workforce issues with AI.
