Arizona Action Coalition Workforce Grant
February 1, 2015 – January 31, 2017
Overall Purpose: To assure there are sufficient healthcare providers to keep Arizonans healthy.
Vision: To build health professions data system to collect and disseminate timely and reliable data for workforce planning and decision making.
Target: The data would be accessible to many groups including but not limited to: employers, educational institutions, business community, researchers, funders, state-based organizations, professional associations and policy makers.
The Healthcare Workforce Issue: The demand for healthcare in Arizona is fueled by population growth, an aging population, transient or retirement residents, and the prevalence of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and obesity. Healthcare delivery is focused on new models of care that combine cost savings, integrated healthcare, wellness, and primary care. These changes will require building the capacity of health care workers, professionals, educators, and community infrastructure. Arizona must be able to timely adapt to demands for professional education and training, and inform these healthcare planning needs with a sustainable model and process for managing healthcare workforce information.
The Workforce Challenge: High quality healthcare workforce supply and demand data is needed to plan for Arizona’s future healthcare system needs. Arizona lacks a sustainable infrastructure and central repository for healthcare workforce data that can be used by a broad group of Arizona stakeholders for healthcare delivery system decision-making and statewide planning efforts. Currently, healthcare workforce supply data in Arizona is available from professional licensing organizations, and is collected from multiple sources by multiple organizations and groups. The system of capturing and using available workforce data is inefficient, fragmented, and untimely, and thus, not reliable for planning or anticipating supply or need for various types of healthcare professionals.
The Workforce Grant: The Arizona Action Coalition (AZAC). AZAC has been awarded a 2-year Robert Wood Johnson Foundation State Implementation Plan Grant (RWJF SIP Grant) to facilitate the development of an inter-professional statewide healthcare workforce collaborative and steering committee that will guide the development of a sustainable model for healthcare workforce data collection, dissemination and management for Arizona. This workgroup will review and analyze existing structures, systems, processes, and professional and regulatory requirements, and make recommendations for adoption and implementation of a continuous and sustainable model for a central workforce data repository for Arizona. Robust inter-professional collaboration and attention to development of a diverse healthcare workforce are integral components of Arizona’s plan.
Community Partners: Matching Funds and in-kind donations were necessary to qualify for the RWJF SIP grant. A large thank-you goes out to all of our state-wide supporters listed below.
Arizona Nurses Association
Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association
Arizona State Board of Nursing
Arizona Association for Home Care
Maricopa County : Workforce Development Division
City of Phoenix: Community & Economic Development
Arizona Commerce Authority
St. Luke’s Health Initiatives
Arizona Nurses Foundation
Arizona Organization of Nurse Executives
Greater Valley Area Health Education Center
Northern Arizona Area Health Education Center
Eastern Arizona Area Health Education Center
Southeast Arizona Area Health Education Center
ASU College of Nursing & Health Innovation Regional
Center for Border Health
Northern Arizona University School of Nursing
Scottsdale Healthcare
Bilingual Nursing Fellowship Program Partnership with South Mountain Community College and Phoenix College Center for Nursing Excellence
National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Phoenix Chapter
Arizona College Personal Contributors: Pauline Komnenich, Pamela Randolph
Click Here for SIP Workforce Plan
Click here for Arizona SIP Grant News Release