HHS launches new initiative to strengthen the US health workforce

Editor's Note

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 6 expanded upon the recently launched HHS Health Workforce Initiative during an event at Lincoln-West School of Science and Health, a public high school in Cleveland, Ohio, that "prepares students for college and careers in healthcare," Healthcare Purchasing News July 6 reports.

According to the HHS press release, the Health Workforce Initiative aims to "support, strengthen, and grow the health workforce by leveraging programs across the Department, including through the $2.7 billion workforce investment proposed in the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget" for "workforce training, scholarship, loan repayment, and well-being programs" managed by the Health Resources and Services Administration. "The President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget prioritizes funding for the vital mandatory healthcare workforce programs...that support the recruitment and development of clinicians to deliver community-based care through loan repayment, scholarships, and residency training," HHS noted.

The initiative will reportedly focus on federal investments to support individuals across different disciplines, "including physicians, nurses, dentists, behavioral healthcare providers, community health workers, peer support specialists," and others. It will include a coordinated effort to "identify opportunities to improve health workforce recruitment and retention, and career advancement, with equity at the center of this work," HHS concluded.