Southwest Virginia partnership launches health workforce planning; VCU expands nurse-anesthesia cohorts

Board members heard programmatic briefings on June 12 about regional health workforce shortages and the center’s role as a backbone convener for a new Southwest Virginia Health Careers and Workforce Partnership.

Karen Brown, director of health-care education initiatives, described the partnership as a planning-stage, stakeholder-driven effort funded initially by a Ball Springs Foundation planning grant. Brown said the partnership will convene education providers, employers and economic-development partners to “ground truth” workforce data and align program capacity with employer needs. She cited data (from a George Mason Center health-workforce dataset presented to the board) projecting regional shortages — the slides reported about 864 registered nurses and about 227 physical therapists short across the broader service area — and said many counties in the region carry federal Health Professional Shortage Area designations…