Jaeger-Jackson: The bottom line is as an organization, our employees are our greatest asset – and our immediate focus is on creating a healthcare ecosystem that attracts and retains fantastic talent. We have a lot to be proud of at Sutter Solano, but this work will continue well into the future.
Klein: The workforce shortage is very challenging for MarinHealth. This includes filling key positions such as primary care physicians, nurses, medical assistants and technicians. It is not just a local issue, but a nationwide problem.
Absences are related to the consequences of the pandemic, people leaving positions due to retirement, work demands and health care worker burnout. That said, we are increasing our recruiting efforts and implementing stronger recruiting incentives to fill positions.
gambling: Across the country we are experiencing a demographic shift where we have an aging population that needs a lot more care. The proportion of elderly people is increasing and by 2030 more than one in five people will be aged 65 or over.
We need a steady pipeline of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to care for that population. In addition to physicians, we must leverage our care teams and use nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, nurses, medical assistants in a team-based model, all working interdependently to provide comprehensive care.
Lam: Canopy Health is a local healthcare network. So we don’t have the same issues that frontline workers face. We support our frontline care partners and provide care transition assistance to members so they can be less of a drain on their staff when serving our population.
Peterson: As stated, we have made a lot of progress in the past year and our net positive headcount is very encouraging. That said, we also had an uphill climb as our challenge was not only to remain net positive, but to significantly increase staffing for our expansion tower.
At this point we are fully staffed, but we have much more work ahead of us to convert the remainder of the increased travel workforce into permanent employment.
Reader: Healdsburg Hospital and Petaluma Valley Hospital are also challenged with finding and retaining enough health care workers. Our turnover, vacancy and time-to-fill metrics are double what they were before the pandemic, with some postings receiving zero qualified applicants for eight months or longer.
As an organization we have had to adjust our recruitment strategies, including hiring greater volumes of nurse residents and partnering with universities and allied health schools to develop talent pipelines.
We’re also working hard to support connection and community, professional development pathways, and robust benefits programs so that those caregivers currently serving in our hospitals feel inspired to continue their careers with us.
Refusal: We understand the value and need for mental health support and are doing our part to address the shortage by offering a Master of Science in Counseling program at the Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences.
Our goal is to raise the next generation of licensed marriage and family therapists through this program. Our employees participating in the program are eligible for tuition assistance of 75% of the total cost of tuition.
We are also pleased to have our longstanding partnership with Sonoma State University, College of Marin, Dominican University and Santa Rosa Junior College, and other educational institutions to prepare health care professionals at all levels, including nurses, physicians , medical assistants. , and technicians in a variety of specialties, such as pharmacy and surgery.
Shulman: The Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency began in 2018, training Family Medicine physicians to address the shortage of primary care physicians in the US. This year we have accommodated our new class of six Family Medicine residents that will begin in July. Family Medicine training is three years long and so far we have graduated two classes of residents.
