Mega Doctor News
DALLAS, Texas– The MolinaCares Accord (“MolinaCares”), in collaboration with Molina Healthcare of Texas (“Molina”), hosted a virtual panel on the state’s health care worker shortages, exacerbated by the pandemic and massive population growth, and how innovations and future investments can help meet patient needs now and in the future.
Bob Kalin, vice president of long-term care operations for Molina Healthcare of Texas, hosted the discussion, which was moderated by Elena Rivera, health reporter for KERA in Dallas-Fort Worth. Maureen Milligan, president and CEO of Teaching Hospitals of Texas and Jackie Brock, chief nurse executive and executive vice president at Harris Health System provided opening remarks.
“Texas’ population has experienced explosive growth and our health care system has not kept pace, as evidenced by the 23,000 registered nursing positions that remain unfilled across our state,” said Kalin. “To ensure the health care system is well-equipped to support current and future demand, conversations that generate collaborative ideas and action between our state lawmakers and industry leaders are a must.”
Rachel Hammon, executive director of the Texas Association of Home Care & Hospice; Antonio Johnson, vice president of people engagement for Cantex Continuing Care Network; Nate Moore, chief operating officer of TCARE; and Dan Pollock, chief executive officer for Advantis Medical, discussed the impact such staffing shortages are having and how it affects the health of various populations.
“Texas’ historic investment in the nursing workforce is critical, but it is still insufficient to meet the need of our nursing workforce going forward,” said Milligan, during her opening remarks. “In order to meet the needs of the future and address the issues of growing and retaining our nursing student population, we need to take a holistic view of nurse education and expand our funding strategy to include clinical investments.”
The panel also discussed how state and industry leaders can work together to bolster health care training and hiring in the next 10 years.
“Today we’re asking our bedside nurses to do more and more, and as we’ve increased our nursing graduate population, we must also increase education at the bedside to reflect these modern-day expectations,” Brock added. “Resilience and retention are key, and we’re asking for funding from the legislature to support nursing retention programs and bolster training to meet the needs of the workforce.”
The full panel discussion can be viewed here.
