By Joe Dashiell
Published: Jul. 31, 2024 at 6:22 PM EDT
ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – A new non-profit is tackling two critical issues: the shortage of healthcare workers and the need for more jobs that pay a living wage. And a program here in western Virginia could provide a model for the rest of the state.
The story is familiar to healthcare providers across Virginia: a persistent shortage of healthcare professionals. Just consider the number of job listings.
According to the George Mason University Virginia Health Workforce Center, in the fourth quarter of 2023, employers in our region posted more than 8,000 online ads for healthcare practitioners and technical workers, more than 1,300 for healthcare support workers and more than 1,300 for community and social service workers.
Dr. Bill Hazel served as Virginia’s Secretary of Health and Human Resources under Governors Bob McDonnell and Terry McAuliffe, and he’s the CEO of the new non-profit Claude Moore Opportunities.
“We know that services are not provided, because of lack of healthcare workforce, particularly in the behavioral health arena,” Hazel told WDBJ7 in an interview Wednesday morning. “So, a tremendous pressing need. In our terms we need to quote stop the bleeding.”
Claude Moore was a Loudoun County doctor who invested in northern Virginia real estate, but he was born and raised in western Virginia. His charitable foundation has supported projects in our area, including the renovation of buildings on Henry Street for the Claude Moore Education Complex at the Roanoke Higher Education Center.
A more recent collaboration is with the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers, which has been working to address workforce shortages in the region.
“The partnership actually started in 2019 with what I like to say is a coalition of the willing,” said Board President Cynthia Lawrence.
She said a key to success is engaging employers from the very beginning.
“This is an employer-led sector partnership. And so, from the outset, employers have been at the same table with educators and workforce professionals, so that we’re working together to identify the strengths and the opportunities and the resources that are needed to make this work,” she said.
The recent Summer Residential Governor’s School for Medicine hosted by Radford University is just one example in which multiple partners have worked together to cultivate interest and prepare young people for healthcare careers.
Now, Claude Moore Opportunities hopes to take that kind of collaboration statewide.
“So, the issue is really pretty simple,” Hazel said. “We have healthcare jobs that are in demand. We have people who need good jobs and careers and don’t want to leave home to have those careers, and we think here at Claude Moore our experience tells us we can address both simultaneously.”
That won’t come cheap, but Claude Moore Opportunities hopes to marshal support from many sources, to make a major difference in the lives of many Virginians.
https://www.wdbj7.com/2024/07/31/new-non-profit-tackle-healthcare-workforce-shortage-across-virginia
