Workforce Council

The Workforce Council is examining available resources and issues in order to make recommendations for improving the health care workforce in rural Virginia.

Updates

Recommendations

In order to ensure accessible health care services in rural areas, Virginia must carefully examine the current status of the health care workforce in rural areas and be able to project future health care workforce need in those areas. The VA‐RHP must thoroughly address the lack of health care professionals in rural areas and examine alternative methods (such as paraprofessionals, educational and training requirements, and the utilization of health information technology for specialty care). These recommendations relate specifically to the health care workforce system in rural areas and include recruitment and retention, mid-levels, allied health, physicians and dentists.

  1. Establish the Virginia Rural Health Workforce Council.
  2. Provide retention incentives to providers to remain in rural communities.
  3. More aggressively engage the Virginia Community College System (VCCS).
  4. Explore health care workforce training models and alternatives for rural areas.
  5. Increase communication between the various health professions training programs.
  6. Engage academic health and medical institutions in dialogue about alternative solutions and strategies to improving the healthcare workforce in rural areas (such as required rural rotations and rural-related curriculum).
  7. Research the concept of dual certificate programs and their feasibility as a more effective approach to the sustainability of the health care workforce in rural communities.
  8. Develop and support educational opportunities for integrating primary care with behavioral health.

Updates

Date Document/Update
7/7/10 2010 Workforce Council Membership
6/29/2010 2010 Workforce Council Workplan
10/5/09

Virginia's Health Care Workforce: Present and Future Need, Joint Commission on Health Care (9/1/09)

Workforce Council Response to the Joint Commission on Health Care Report (9/29/09)

3/12/09 Workforce Council Progress Report
3/3/09 Workforce Council Meeting Minutes
2/17/09 Workforce Council Meeting Minutes