Rx for a New Health Care Workforce

A Convening of Leaders in Practice and Policy

If our nation is to dramatically increase access to and the affordability and quality of health care, an essential element will be broad-based partnerships that train and employ frontline health care workers. This message was at the core of Rx for a New Health Care Workforce, a convening in Washington, DC, hosted by JFF on March 1 and 2, 2010.

JFF brought together 100 health care policymakers, funders, workforce experts and practitioners, and industry leaders committed to expanding access, lowering costs, and improving the quality of health care. They discussed the role of workforce policy in health care reform and the implications of this reform for the frontline health care workforce—the men and women who provide a great deal of the nation’s direct patient care and public health services, yet who earn low wages and have limited opportunities for advancement.

Featured speakers included Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary, vocational and adult education, U.S. Department of Education; Thomas P. Glynn, COO of Partners HealthCare System and chair of the JFF board of directors; Deborah King, executive director of the 1199 SEIU Training and Employment Funds; and Jane Oates, assistant secretary, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

The convening drew on promising models from several JFF initiatives, including Breaking Through, Jobs to Careers, and the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. JFF will extend the work undertaken at the convening, with reports on innovations and challenges in practice and policy.