Valued Voice

The WHA Council on Workforce Development met March 22 offering their expertise and experience to further inform WHA’s workforce advocacy. WHA Information Center (WHAIC) Vice President Jennifer Mueller and Healthcare Data Analyst Emily Holden, along with WHA Senior Vice President Workforce and Clinical Practice Ann Zenk, shared workforce data and analysis efforts underway, including the second annual WHA Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Salary Survey that this year includes data from 118 participating hospitals and health facilities. The Salary survey will be released in early April. Holden shared the process underway by WHAIC and their salary survey partners the Wisconsin Healthcare Human Resources Association (WisHHRA) and the Iowa Hospital Association to ensure that WHA Salary Survey data and reporting meets the highest standards and provides a valuable and valued benefit for WHA and WisHHRA members. 
 
Zenk and council members also discussed the WHA 2024 Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report released on March 11, including the recommendations the annual workforce data and analysis drives. The hospital leaders making up the council validated that the data in the report is consistent with their workforce picture, and that WHA’s workforce recommendations provide a good framework for growing the health care workforce faster and utilizing the available workforce as effectively and efficiently as possible to meet the health care needs of Wisconsin. 
 
The Governor’s Task Force on the Health Care Workforce and the Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment provide avenues for WHA and WHA member workforce advocacy. Six WHA member leaders have been appointed to the Governor’s Task Force, including workforce council member Sharon Cox, vice president and CNO Beloit Health System. Cox provided an update on the first meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on the Health Care Workforce. WHA Council on Workforce Development member Thomas Miller, president of Aurora BayCare Medical Center has been appointed to the Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment, along with WHA’s Ann Zenk. Miller provided an update on the standing state workforce council led by Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Secretary-designee Amy Pechacek.
 
WHA Senior Vice President Government Relations Kyle O’Brien and WHA Vice President Federal and State Relations Jon Hoelter provided the council with updates on key federal and state issues pertinent to Wisconsin’s workforce and workforce leaders. The state update included two bills signed into law the morning of the council meeting. One new state law updates the WHA-crafted GME “Grow Our Own” grants. The other directs DHS to pursue an IMD waiver, which will create additional psychiatric placement opportunities for Medicaid patients. Hoelter’s federal update included efforts to ensure federal waivers enacted during the pandemic remain in place for important telehealth and hospital at home programs.
 
Rounding out the data picture, Zenk provided an update of the WHA Foundation digital media campaign, "So Many Options" and the WHA hospital career exploration website. The campaign, aimed at middle and high school students and their adult influencers, took off quickly, with over 500 clicks to the website in the first 24 hours, and 64,000 website visits and 2.1 million ad impressions in the first six weeks of the campaign.