About This Report
October 2017
As chief executive officer of a Wisconsin hospital and chair of the Wisconsin Hospital Association Council on Workforce Development, I am often asked about the health care workforce issues that challenge leaders like me on a daily basis. Many of these issues are not new, such as the aging workforce, which is really a mere refection of the aging population. Some issues are still emerging, as we begin to understand the promise, and the burden, of electronic health records. WHA has long been recognized as a leader in health care workforce analysis. This 2017 Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report is the 14th annual report. WHA’s workforce reports utilize national and state data and studies, reports from other associations and findings in the field—yes, what they hear from Wisconsin’s health care leaders—and offer recommendations for action.
Innovations in health care delivery models, such as expanding team-based care and incorporation of emerging roles into existing models are just a few of the approaches creative and bold leaders are using. Health care leaders, in rural and urban settings, in large systems and independent hospitals and clinics, are pushing for change, understanding that status quo information technologies are not going to be adequate to the challenges we are facing, and that change needs to be driven by leaders and a workforce that understands the wealth of data at our fingertips—if we could just get to it. If we can harness the combination of claims and clinical and socioeconomic data to provide deeper insights into the population we care for, we can make better decisions to tailor the workforce for the care our patients and communities need, in the right place, at the right time, by the right team member, using the right technology.
High-quality care depends largely on a high-quality workforce. This report should assist you as a health care leader in making the important decisions that impact that workforce. The challenges to the continuation of delivering the high-quality, high-value health care Wisconsin is nationally known for are great. However, I am confident my fellow health care leaders, along with Wisconsin’s fine educational institutions, dedicated elected officials and policymakers, remain committed to upholding this quality.
Nicole Clapp, FACHE
President/CEO, Grant Regional Health Center, Lancaster
Chair, WHA Council on Workforce Development
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