~ Claude Moore Opportunities bringing together public and private sector stakeholders, including educational institutions and employers, to better align region’s healthcare workforce development efforts and create career opportunities ~
As part of a new statewide initiative called the Virginia Partnership for Health Science Careers, a new regional partnership in the Shenandoah Valley will bring together schools, hospitals, healthcare providers, and workforce development professionals from the public and private sectors to expand the area’s healthcare workforce, create meaningful career opportunities, and meet the needs of communities throughout the Valley. The partnership will work to implement Collaborating to Address Regional Workforce Challenges: A Roadmap, an “off-the-shelf” guide to establish and operate regional, employer-engaged workforce development collaboratives in Virginia with a focus on healthcare careers.
The regional healthcare workforce partnership will involve partners including Valley Health, Sentara, Laurel Ridge Community College, Blue Ridge Community College, James Madison University, the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board, and K-12 school systems around the region. The partnership will serve communities including the cities of Buena Vista, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro, Winchester; and the counties of Augusta, Bath, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren.
To support the partnership’s success, Claude Moore Opportunities has helped convene the needed regional stakeholders, provided financial support for healthcare workforce development programs throughout the region, and its partners at the George Mason University Center for Health Workforce have provided data on current and expected healthcare workforce shortages in the region.
“At Claude Moore, we believe that coordinated, regional partnerships are the most promising approach for creating meaningful career opportunities while meeting the healthcare needs of our citizens and strengthening regional economies throughout Virginia,” said Dr. Bill Hazel, CEO of Claude Moore Opportunities. “We are proud to be part of a true collaborative effort that builds on the work that local officials have been doing for years, and look forward to the positive impact that this partnership will have on families and communities throughout the region.”
In addition to the regional partnership for the Shenandoah Valley, partnerships have now been established in each region of the state as part of the Virginia Partnership for Health Science Careers, a new statewide effort led by Claude Moore Opportunities to better coordinate healthcare workforce development in communities around the Commonwealth. The network’s workforce development efforts will focus on the careers that create strong, accessible medical, dental, and behavioral/mental health systems such as technicians, assistants, and aides, with an emphasis on the positions that community leaders and healthcare providers identify as most critical for their region.
The Shenandoah Valley regional partnership is holding local meetings while the overarching Virginia Partnership for Health Science Careers has held two statewide summits to share strategies and best practices.
About the Shenandoah Valley’s Healthcare Workforce Shortage
According to a comprehensive 2023 study for the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority, 102 of Virginia’s 133 localities are federally designated “Health Professional Shortage Areas” and 93 localities are “Mental Healthcare Professional Shortage Areas,” meaning about 30% of Virginians live in a community without a sufficient number of primary and behavioral healthcare providers.
Based on an analysis of active job ads performed by the George Mason University Center for Health Workforce, it is estimated that, in order to meet the community’s healthcare demands in the Shenandoah Valley, the region needs:
- 1,113 nurses
- 591 medical and health services managers
- 568 social and human service assistants
- 280 radiologic technologists and technicians
- 250 speech-language pathologists
- 246 nursing assistants
- 202 licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses
- 411 physical therapists
- 173 personal care aides
*(As of 2024Q3)
The Valley also needs 227 postsecondary health specialties teachers to train and educate the next generation of healthcare and life sciences workers.
The GMU Center for Health Workforce analysis found that the Commonwealth of Virginia as a whole needs:
- 17,537 registered nurses
- 10,670 medical and human services managers
- 9,171 social and human services assistants
- 3,751 physical therapists
- 3,090 licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses
- 2,760 nursing assistants
- 2,412 mental health and substance abuse social workers
- 2,282 personal care aides
*(As of 2024Q4)
The Commonwealth also needs 1,711 postsecondary health specialties teachers to train and educate the next generation of healthcare and life sciences workers.
About The Roadmap and Sector Partnerships
The Roadmap was developed collaboratively by Claude Moore, Virginia Works, and Virginia Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater with input from stakeholders around the Commonwealth including public and private sector workforce and economic development professionals, educators, and major employers. It represents a significant new embrace of the “sector-based strategy” that is emerging nationally as a successful method of creating a larger pool of skilled workers to capitalize on a community’s strengths and meet its unique needs.
The keys to the success of The Roadmap are its emphasis on wide stakeholder engagement to ensure a region’s trainings and educational offerings match its needs, and the creation of flexible professional development opportunities with “on and off ramps” so that Virginians can take their education as far as they wish while staying engaged with the workforce.
The Roadmap was released in September 2024 to stakeholders who contributed to it and public and private sector partners who can benefit from its use including local workforce boards, economic and workforce development professionals and agencies, the Virginia Community College System, Chambers of Commerce, major employers, and more.
The strategies explained in the Roadmap are applicable to any industry or sector that requires concerted workforce development efforts with a specific focus on healthcare workforce because of Virginia’s considerable needs, the complexity of healthcare workforce development, and Claude Moore’s unique expertise in this area.
