| The healthcare industry initiative was the first industry that the board targeted and serves as a template for future industry sector initiatives. In the first step, the board brought together more than two dozen key stakeholder institutions in 2003 to form a steering committee to guide the healthcare workforce summit process. The steering committee included the following participants: healthcare industry employers, state licensing boards, educational representatives, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Defense and allied state agencies. In addition, the steering committee compiled the Governor's Healthcare Workforce Summit monograph, which consisted of agreed-upon information regarding the industry's current and future workforce shortages and included best practices from across the nation.
In the second step, the GWIB facilitated an invitational Governor's Healthcare Workforce Summit on August 28, 2003, to address the critical issue of significantly increasing the number of skilled healthcare workers in Maryland. The summit brought together approximately 160 invitees representing more than 650 employers, as well as representatives from state licensing boards, state educational systems and relevant state agencies. As a result of the summit, participants were assigned concrete deliverables to advance real change in increasing employment in the healthcare industry. In the third step of the workforce development process, GWIB followed up with the summit participants to aid them in the achievement of their stated objectives. The Healthcare Sustaining Committee is now meeting on a quarterly basis and will be meeting to discuss their next steps. The following are some of the achievements thus far:
- The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL) recognized this approach and awarded the GWIB $1 million to establish the Center for Industry Initiatives to duplicate the healthcare industry initiative in other industries, as well as continue the work of the healthcare industry initiative.
- Maryland received $1.5 in federal funding to increase nursing program faculty in the state's nursing programs thereby increasing the state's capacity to train nurses. Click onto the
Workforce Grant Information section for more information on outcomes.
- The Maryland Higher Education Commission and the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation released "Maryland's Top Demand Healthcare Occupations - Projected Demand and Reported Supply." The report outlines the top 25 healthcare occupations, what credentials are required for those occupations and where those credentials can be obtained. This report forms the baseline data for measuring the Healthcare Workforce Initiative's progress.
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