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New Action Group Opportunity: Building Workforce Resiliency at Essential Hospitals

Essential Hospitals Institute is excited to announce that the Workforce Resiliency Action Group, supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is now open for applications on a rolling basis. The shift to rolling applications ensures all interested members can access the extensive resources and expertise this group offers for creating a resilient and diverse workforce.

This action group, which meets monthly via Zoom, provides leaders at America’s Essential Hospitals member hospitals with tactical and operational strategies to address structural racism and reform the workforce. Association members actively engaged in workforce equity efforts are invited to apply. Action group content will be targeted toward leaders representing members hospitals’ diversity, equity, and inclusion divisions, human resources departments, and other similar teams.

The severe and ongoing health care workforce shortage significantly affects hospitals filling a safety net role in their community, which serve as lifelines for under-resourced and complex populations. Evidence is clear that having a health care workforce that reflects and represents the patient population:

  • Helps improve patient experience, outcomes, and satisfaction
  • Can help workers feel valued and supported
  • Mitigates critical workforce shortages in underserved areas
  • Drives innovation in care delivery

Essential Hospitals Institute, with support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will host a 12-month Workforce Resiliency Action Group beginning in winter 2025. This group will offer member hospital teams actionable information and guidance as they develop and implement strategies to foster and retain a diverse workforce.

Meeting topics will focus on recruiting, hiring, and sustaining a resilient workforce that supports organizations’ goals to:

  • Improve communication
  • Advance cultural humility and cultural responsiveness
  • Reduce disparities in health care treatment and outcomes
  • Improve patient experience and increase patient trust
  • Meet health equity–related requirements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; The Joint Commission, and other regulatory and certification bodies  

This opportunity is open to essential hospitals that are actively designing or implementing strategies to reform exclusionary workforce policies and practices, build resiliency, and address critical workforce issues. This action group aims to cultivate learning across all phases of building and maintaining the workforce and will benefit HR leaders, inclusion excellence personnel, and other hospital professionals directly engaged in hospital workforce development.

The action group presents a unique opportunity for participating members to:

  • Gain insight from workforce resilience experts both within and outside of association membership
  • Forge partnerships with fellow essential leaders through peer-to-peer discussions on practical strategies, tools, and policies to support organizational workforce efforts
  • Receive priority access and travel reimbursement to our Workforce Resilience Convenings, which will be held in 2025 at our Washington, D.C. office

Association members currently designing and implementing strategies to recruit and retain a workforce that reflects their patient population and community are encouraged to apply. Target applicants include leaders from human resources (HR) teams and other departments directly involved in workforce development and diversity. To participate, hospitals must have C-suite level support and a minimum of two individuals from each hospital are required to participate.

Up to 12 member hospitals can participate in this action group; each member hospital should be represented by a team of participants.

Only ONE individual from a hospital should apply on behalf of their organization. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. All accepted participants are expected to attend each session.

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