Cleveland Clinc and Other Area Hospitals Are Looking to Change the Healthcare Shortage

Healthcare has a serious employee shortage, originally it was a nursing shortage, but progress to every aspect of the healthcare industry. Originally When the attention was on nursing, what it did was deplete the other areas that people might have gone for, so departments like lavatory and radiology are reaching critical lows. Northeast Ohio is looking to change that, since it is the area is internationally know, because of Cleveland Clinic.

Cleveland Clinic, together with University Hospitals, the MetroHealth System, Southwest General Hospital, the Louis Stokes VA and the Summa Health System, has formed the Northeast Ohio Health, Science and Innovation Coalition (NOHSIC) to address the region's healthcare labor shortages.

Believed to be the first of its kind, the consortium of organizations was formed to develop and implement solutions to counter the severe labor shortages affecting some areas of healthcare, including nursing, respiratory therapy, laboratory and radiology services. The labor shortages, if left unaddressed, stand to hinder the region's ability to maintain and grow its position as a nationally recognized center of healthcare excellence.

Initiating a community dialogue around this issue, the Coalition's founding members presented information about the group's mission, foundation and plans for Northeast Ohio at The City Club on Thursday, Aug. 23.

The mission of the Coalition is to build a sustainable system that effectively aligns employer, public and private sector resources for the development, recruitment and retention of a skilled healthcare workforce. The Coalition recently gained public support through a memorandum of understanding with the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Workforce Investment Board.

"The creation of NOHSIC demonstrates the commitment of the region's healthcare systems to retraining the workforce needs to fill vacancies in Northeast Ohio's healthcare industry," says Toby Cosgrove, M.D., CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. "We have a highly developed healthcare infrastructure, outstanding academic medical centers, research universities, and excellent community hospitals. Ensuring we have the right human resources in place will be instrumental in the continued growth and delivery of high-quality healthcare."

The coalition is actively searching for ways to maximize this growth and make the most of the region's human resources, developing specific programs centered on training, professional development, recruitment and regional branding.
For example, the Coalition intends to implement an enhanced School at Work (SAW) program across all of the region's health systems to increase educational opportunities for entry-level employees. This training could also provide them with the opportunity to move into higher paying jobs where there are currently shortages of skilled talent.