Advocates from across the country are on Capitol Hill today to represent the Healthcare Workforce Coalition, urging lawmakers to back commonsense solutions to support and protect the nation’s healthcare workforce.
During this day-long advocacy event, coalition members will meet with congressional offices to highlight the need for bipartisan, immediate solutions to strengthen recruitment, retention, training, and support for healthcare workers who care for millions of Americans.
The frontline workers, executives and advocates attending the fly-in will underscore the urgency of swift passage of the Train More Nurses Act, Save Healthcare Workers Act, Reauthorization of the Dr. Lorna Breen Provider Protection Act, and the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act.
“Our healthcare workforce is the backbone of the nation’s care delivery system,” said Ryan Miller, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Trinity Health. “Without targeted federal action, shortages will continue to jeopardize access to care, especially in rural communities like those Trinity Health serves”.
Communities across the country are facing critical workforce shortages. The shortage is most severe in rural and underserved areas, where 80% of rural Americans have little-to-no access to healthcare. At the same time, providers are feeling burnt out and leaving the profession at alarming rates. Nearly 100,000 registered nurses were estimated to have left the field during the COVID-19 pandemic due to stress, burnout, and retirements and roughly 800,000 nurses intend to leave the profession by 2027. There are not enough nursing students in the pipeline to fill these gaps, as nursing schools struggle to find enough faculty to admit qualified students.
The Healthcare Workforce Coalition will continue its engagement with Congress in the coming months and remains committed to advancing sustainable, bipartisan policy solutions.
About the Healthcare Workforce Coalition
The Healthcare Workforce Coalition is a national alliance of providers, advocates, and organizations working to strengthen America’s healthcare workforce. The coalition promotes evidence-based policy solutions to ensure all communities have access to a strong, stable, and well-supported care workforce.
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