The new On Board Virginia website features information about health care career paths, details about educational opportunities and incentives for students training to become health care professionals, an interactive hospital job board through which applicants can explore open positions across the Commonwealth, information about Virginia hospitals and the distinct features and amenities of communities across the state where people who come to the state for work may choose to plant roots, and video testimonials from current Virginia health care professionals.
For perspective on health care workforce challenges, consider that:
- By 2030, it is projected that 1.2 million new registered nurses will be needed in the U.S. to address existing shortages.
- The number of nurses who indicate they are likely to leave direct patient care has doubled as a result of burnout from COVID-19.
- The national shortage of physicians is projected to be in the range of 37,800 on the low end to 124,000 on the high end by 2034.
The launch of the new website and an accompanying promotional campaign is focused on reaching health care professionals and encouraging them to come to Virginia where opportunity abounds to grow their careers. It is the result of many months of work by hospital officials and stakeholders on the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association Workforce steering committee to identify Virginia’s health care workforce needs and develop strategies to boost workforce recruitment and retention efforts.
“The past few years have been especially trying for health care providers, with workforce issues and staff burnout among the challenges we have faced,” said Centra Health President and CEO Amy Carrier, a co-chair of the VHHA Workforce steering committee and a member of the VHHA board of directors. “Having a robust workforce with trained and caring clinicians is pivotal to meet the medical needs of the families and communities we serve, now and in the future. With the launch of On Board Virginia, we are taking action to shore up the health care workforce in the Commonwealth.”
Health care workforce shortages predate the COVID-19 pandemic but have become magnified across the nation and here in Virginia, where there are more than 11,000 open positions in hospitals and health systems in the Commonwealth, according to a news release.
Bringing in supplemental staff in the form of temporary travel clinicians is one way hospitals have attempted to address shortages, leading the average amount of hospital spending on contract labor to more than double from $2.23 million in 2011 to $4.59 million in 2020, according to a Definitive Healthcare analysis.
In Virginia, hospitals have experienced a combined 154 percent increase in contract labor costs between Jan. 1, 2021-June 30, 2022. Nationally, shortages of registered nurses (a projected deficit of 200,000-450,000 nurses for direct patient care by 2025), physicians (the Association of American Medical Colleges forecasts a shortage between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians by 2034), pharmacy technicians, and medical assistants, home health aides, and nursing assistants are concerning trends.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that “employment in health care occupations is projected to grow 16 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations, adding about 2.6 million new jobs. Health care occupations are projected to add more jobs than any of the other occupational groups. This projected growth is mainly due to an aging population, leading to greater demand for health care services.”
The new website is available at https://onboardvirginia.com/
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Crystal Graham
