A Comprehensive MODEL for Workforce Development in the Health Professions

As a high growth industry, the health care field is expected to increase by 28 percent between 2002 and 2012. Similar growth is projected for Colorado's health care system where the numbers of available health professionals are not expected to be sufficient to meet the growing need. Over the next decade, Colorado will face shortages in physicians, nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants and occupational therapists. Over the past three years, The Colorado Trust's Health Professions Initiative (HPI) has funded 22 grantees to focus on ways in which the supply of health professionals can be increased and sustained throughout the state. Initial data show the preliminary impacts of the Health Professions Initiative to be promising. The 22 HPI grantees have collectively assisted over 1,500 health professional students to advance their training. Over half of these students are from rural underserved areas, and 39 percent intend to return to a rural area to work. The capacity of training programs has increased across 47 professional categories, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists and allied health personnel. In addition, a comprehensive workforce development framework has emerged from the work of the HPI grantees that includes: 1) student level strategies 2) capacity development strategies for health professions training programs and 3) community partnership strategies that provide leadership in recruitment and retention efforts. Building on these findings, ongoing workforce development in Colorado will include ongoing data collection efforts, policymaker summits and coordinated workforce development efforts focusing on improvements both within the state's education and health care sectors.