Launched in April 2016 by Hope Street Group and the White House, the Healthcareer Pathways Network (HCPN) is creating the workforce to meet the growing demand in healthcare jobs. HCPN members include healthcare providers, workforce boards, community colleges and community-based organizations across the country and are focused on entry-level and middle-skill jobs, including medical assistants, surgical technicians and nurse practitioners.
WHY
Over the next decade healthcare will add more jobs than any other sector with positions in hospitals and home health estimated to grow by about 3.7 million jobs by 2026.[1] For millions of American workers, though, the promise of well-paying career opportunities in healthcare is often inaccessible, evidenced by the fact that in many regions of the country today, entry-level and middle-skill jobs in healthcare remain unfilled.[2] For employers, this skills gap heightens concerns around the ability to deliver quality healthcare in their communities.
[2] https://www.pressherald.com/2017/08/27/shortage-of-health-care-workers-in-maine-puts-strain-on-providers/
HOW
HCPN members have adopted a competency-based approach to sourcing, hiring and advancing talent to strengthen employers’ ability to provide quality care within their communities, while creating greater access to economic opportunity for workers through career paths that offer advancement.
The competency-based strategies implemented by HCPN members are aimed at achieving four key objectives:
- Reducing the number of healthcare job vacancies;
- Increasing workforce diversity;
- Decreasing first-year turnover; and
- Increasing the advancement of entry-level employees in the healthcare sector.
MEMBERS OF THE NETWORK
HCPN currently includes members in eight regions of the country and is rapidly expanding in other parts of the country to include other partners who share the goal of transforming the way the workforce in healthcare is sourced, hired and advanced.
Workshops
Planning, preparation, and post-workshop engagement maximizes the impact of these day long career pathway events. Workshops are held in a local region and help the local cross-functional team of employers, colleges, CTE centers, WIOA workforce agencies and other community partners, develop specific career pathways, including apprenticeships, for their priority job families.