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Publisher: Ohio Health Care Workforce Advisory Council
Published Date: June 2004

Introduction

In 2002, the Ohio Health Care Workforce Shortage Task Force, created by the General Assembly and staffed by the Ohio Department of Health, issued a report titled Caring for Ohioans: Rebuilding the Health Care Workforce in Ohio. It made fifteen recommendations to Ohio legislators, each aimed at impacting the health care workforce shortage in Ohio. The Ohio Health Care Workforce Advisory Council began its work in July of that year. Originally planned for one year but extended through June 30, 2004, the Advisory Council continued the Task Force's work to advise the Governor's Workforce Policy Board on strategies to alleviate health care workforce shortages in Ohio and to strengthen the state's overall workforce policy and plans.

More than 10 percent of all workers in the state work in health care, a field more tightly regulated than almost any other industry. Regulations cover reimbursement rates for services, provider qualifications, organizational structure and more. Certainly all healthcare employers are deeply concerned about current and growing workforce shortages, but each employer understandably focuses on his or her own parochial interests, often without regard for other providers' competing issues.

The Advisory Council was the first of its kind formed under the Advance Ohio plan of the Governor's Workforce Policy Board. It represents a broad array of stakeholders, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, residential care facilities, home health agencies, independent living centers, consumer advocates and state agencies. (A list of members is included as Appendix A.) Collectively, this public-private partnership is well-suited to offer specific, realistic recommendations and to recognize, promote, and share promising practices. The Advisory Council was charged to:

• verify data about health care workforce including the number and types of jobs available and projected in the future;
• collaborate with state and local workforce policy boards, One-Stop operators, multi-agency workforce groups and others;
• hold regional conferences on health care workforce issues;
• collect information about best practices in Ohio and throughout the country;
• establish a web site to provide information and highlight best practices in health care workforce recruitment, retention and training;
• develop a public service media campaign to publicize information about health care workforce shortages and recruit new workers; and,
• present recommendations to the Governor's Workforce Policy Board.

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