In order to combat the healthcare professional shortage in Utah, healthcare organizations are focused on the recruitment and retention of workers. Experts discussed ways to bolster the workforce at the 2024 Utah State of Reform Health Policy Conference last month.
Cameron Wright, project director of presidential initiatives at the University of Utah, said the state needs to be prepared for the way employment is changing in the healthcare industry.
“We’re at a moment between our higher education institutions and healthcare industry where we can no longer just open our doors and expect all the applicants we want,” Wright said.
Tiffiny Lipscomb, vice president of human resources at Intermountain Health, said as organizations work to grow their workforce, they need to ensure it reflects the diverse populations they care for.
“We need to make sure we have our own caregivers reflecting the population we serve,” Lipscomb said. “From a diversity perspective, it’s really important that people see themselves in the clinicians who are providing care.”
Wright said organizations need to provide their workers with some sort of opportunity for growth.
“Our job would not be well done as an organization if all we’re doing is bringing the people off the sidelines and into near entry-level jobs,” he said. “How do we bake in upward mobility and momentum from the very beginning?”
Wright said the university is incorporating skills curriculums into programs available for its workers. He said there is also a great need for life skills training.
“A lot of what holds people back out of the workforce is issues with finance, relationships, mental health, [and] family dynamics,” Wright said.
Intermountain runs multiple programs to help its employees move upward in their careers. Lipscomb highlighted the organization’s tuition reimbursement program, as well as the Path to Education Advancement and Knowledge (PEAK) program. Both programs allow Intermountain employees to receive up to $5,250 annually in tuition assistance for many types of postsecondary education, including bachelor degrees, graduate degrees, and certificates.
The PEAK program differs from classic tuition reimbursement models because the sum is paid directly to the educational institution.
“With tuition reimbursement, you still have to provide that tuition upfront, and then you get paid back, so that can prevent some people from going into those fields,” Lipscomb said. “[With] the PEAK program, that pay is upfront.”
Although upward mobility is vital to improving the workforce, organizations must focus on the future workforce as well. Lipscomb discussed the importance of attracting young people to healthcare. She said many people do not know the wide variety of career options within the healthcare system.
“When you talk to people in high school, they still think of ‘doctor’ and ‘nurse.’ But there are so many more opportunities and the future will only be plush with many, many more. We just need to help them see what those options are and then provide them with the support to work through that.”
— Lipscomb
Lipscomb highlighted certified nursing assistants (CNAs). To become a CNA in Utah, a person must be at least 16 years old, complete a Utah Nursing Assistant Registry training program, and pass required exams. From there, she said, CNAs can acquire more skills and credentials if they wish to advance to different positions.
Intermountain Health has been working with the Utah Legislature to establish grants that would help individuals enter the workforce as CNAs or other similar positions, and then work their way up to a different role, Lipscomb said.
Wright said the university partners with community-based organizations and high schools to interest young people in healthcare. It partners with a high school in West Valley that has low post-secondary attainment rates, he said. University officials talk with students interested in entering the healthcare workforce, and specialized cohorts help them acquire CNA training through Salt Lake Community College.
Wright said a majority of the students in these cohorts are first-generation high school graduates, and many of them do not know anyone working in the healthcare field.
“How do we build the social capital of the individual who has no family connections to the healthcare system?” Wright asked.
These students are connected with mentors and navigators so they have social capital within the healthcare system, Wright said. He added that many students see healthcare as a prestigious profession they do not belong in.
“[There] is this perception of these spaces not being for them. And it often just takes one person who comes out of these institutions and gets close and says, ‘We will stand next to you. We will help you develop your professional network. We’ll help you make a plan. We’ll help you move forward.’ It’s often as straightforward as that to get someone moving [into healthcare].”
— Wright
Workplace violence is another factor exacerbating the state’s healthcare staffing shortage. Some healthcare workers are willing to leave their position due to the violence they experience.
“It’s a challenge because, if you could go to Amazon and run around and ring doorbells—maybe get chased by a dog or two—or be in healthcare, some people may opt for safer options,” Lipscomb said.
At Intermountain Health, the staff has a daily huddle for employees at all levels—from on-the-ground physicians to upper-level management—to discuss incidents involving workplace violence, Lipscomb said. She added that it is important for organizations to offer both physical and emotional support for employees who experience workplace violence.
In order to try to prevent violent incidents, Intermountain notes if a patient has a combative history within their medical records, Lipscomb said. That way clinicians approach these patients in more effective ways, and security officers conduct more frequent rounds near them. The organization also has focus groups working to address workplace violence, she said.
Wright highlighted licensure as a policy-level barrier to the workforce. He said licensure barriers keep many qualified individuals that were trained in other countries from joining the healthcare workforce. He discussed a Ukrainian surgeon he met that is currently working as a crossing guard (instead of in the healthcare space) in Utah.
In order to prepare for the future of the workforce, a greater emphasis on early career planning is needed so people can get connected to the right programs early, Wright said.
“Work-based learning, experiential learning is sort of the gold standard for high school students,” Wright said. “There are system capacity concerns there, in the same way there are system capacity concerns for clinical placements for nurses … But the more we can open up experiential opportunities for high school learners, the better they can plan for what they want to do.”
Lipscomb said young people should be encouraged to try different career paths, because they do not need to stick with the first path they try.
“Sometimes they’re afraid to make a decision because they think it means [for] the rest of their life, they’re going to do this thing,” Lipscomb said. “But people, on average, are having about five to seven careers over the span of their [working lives]. So let them know it’s OK to explore [that]. This is an exploration. Get in; see what you like.”