7 minute read
Building a Healthcare Workforce Superhighway
A county-wide partnership is developing a roadmap for recruiting, training and retaining critical healthcare workers.
BY: VENITA JENKINS ’24M
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JEFF JANOWSKI AND MICHAEL SPENCER
Healthcare is a vital component of any thriving community, and that's why UNCW, Cape Fear Community College, New Hanover County Schools and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce created a groundbreaking healthcare transformation superhighway. With a focus on support and retention programs, the collaboration aims to produce and retain highly skilled healthcare professionals who will bolster the local workforce.
The issue of retention in the local healthcare workforce is significant and is something educators and business leaders are keen to address. Data shows around 75% of students who complete UNCW’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing pre-licensure program choose to work elsewhere outside southeastern North Carolina, according to Chris Lantz, an associate dean in the UNCW College of Health and Human Services.
“What that means is we are essentially leveraging Wilmington’s limited resources to educate somebody else’s workforce,” he added.
Planning Routes
A solution came in the form of a collaboration with key education and business partners, with support from the Chamber of Commerce, to develop a more interconnected healthcare ecosystem. This effort aligns with the philanthropic priorities of Like No Other: The Campaign for UNCW to solve critical systemic issues.
“We had direct conversations about whether it was a production, retention or cultural problem,” said Lantz. “We recognized that it was a systemic problem, it's a complex problem, and it requires a systems-based solution that involves many partners.”
The group crafted a grant proposal to reduce the shortage of nurses, nurses’ assistants, and other critical healthcare workers in New Hanover County. In December 2023, they were awarded $22.3 million in grants from the New Hanover Community Endowment to address critical healthcare workforce challenges in the county. The grant will help fund resources and much needed wrap-around support structures to break down barriers, such as transportation, childcare, test prep or financial. It will also fund pathway programs, holistic admissions and targeted recruiting, and improvements to facilities like the UNCW simulation learning lab, which has outgrown its space, said Lantz, a co-principal investigator for the project.
While the shortage of healthcare professionals is a systemic issue for communities throughout the U.S., many do not have the resources in place to address the issue, said Jack C. Watson, dean of the UNCW College of Health and Human Services and co-PI.
"The endowment we have in New Hanover County provides us with some resources to do that," said Watson. "We believe we will be able to keep a much larger percentage of our students in this county.”
New Hanover County Schools plan to on-ramp students interested in nursing or other healthcare professions through its Career and Technical Education programs as early as middle school. This early exposure aims to broaden students’ horizons and empower them to pursue professions in healthcare, laying the groundwork for future educational and employment opportunities.
“These are, sometimes, professions the students didn’t see themselves being able to attain,” said Watson.
Building Bridges
Prospective healthcare students recruited through New Hanover Schools or targeted recruiting by UNCW admissions will choose route-to-degree programs at CFCC or UNCW. Once they complete their degree programs, they will cross a bridge that leads to either employment at local healthcare facilities or an advanced degree. Early engagement between employers and students is also critical to the collaboration’s success, said CFCC Health and Human Services Dean Mary Ellen Naylor, a co-PI for the project.
“It’s important that our students build relationships with our local healthcare partners and that we foster a culture that makes students want to learn here and stay in our region when they graduate,” she said. “Continuous dialogue with healthcare employers and partners is essential in creating pathways and opportunities for career advancement in nursing and other healthcare professions.”
School officials will spend the next two years designing, planning and implementing initiatives that will lay the foundation for the innovative healthcare workforce superhighway, while the Chamber continues to serve as a critical conduit to area employers and schools. Additionally, Novant Health has committed $2.5 million for nursing scholarships each to UNCW and CFCC over five years to assist with healthcare workforce development.
“The endowment has invested in us a tremendous responsibility to operationalize this project that positions UNCW, CFCC and New Hanover County Schools and Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with employers, to do something impactful making our community a better place,” said Lantz. “It’s about building community.”
CHHS Adds Corbett Anatomy Lab
Thanks to the generosity of the late Dr. J. Richard “Dick” Corbett, the Cape Fear Memorial Foundation and the South East Area Health Education Center, university and community leaders and members of the Corbett family celebrated the completion of the Dr. J. Richard “Dick” Corbett Anatomy Laboratory with a ribbon cutting ceremony in February.
The lab joins Veterans Hall’s suite of interprofessional teaching clinics, problem-based learning spaces and state-of-the-art equipment to create transformative learning experiences, advance knowledge and serve UNCW’s local and global communities.
“This lab is groundbreaking for the region, helping the College of Health and Human Services enhance health and quality of life in southeastern North Carolina and beyond," said Jack C. Watson, dean of the UNCW College of Health and Human Services. "It gives the college the ability to offer cutting-edge teaching, research and service to its students and community partners.”
The lab also creates opportunities to add new academic programs that wouldn’t be possible without it. UNCW recently received UNC Board of Governors approval to offer a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), which would fulfill a significant state need as it increases accessibility to physical therapy services. This gift, a part of Like No Other: The Campaign for UNCW, will have a lasting impact on the education of UNCW students entering healthcare fields in ways that expand learning from textbooks or new technology.
–BY AMY MANGUS
Xingyi Ren - Nursing Student
As a young child, Xingyi “Ren” Ren ’24 spent a lot of time in hospitals due to a congenital heart defect and credits her experiences interacting with healthcare workers for igniting her passion for nursing. Ren, who graduated in May from UNCW’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) prelicensure program, was the recipient of the Leonora Barnes Scholarship in Nursing, Theresa Bentsen Warrick Nursing Scholarship, James Walker Nursing Alumnae Scholarship and Health Care Heroes Scholarship.
Watch Ren’s Seahawk Story at uncw.edu/ren.
Kris Mosher-Gomez - Nursing Student
There was a time when Kris Mosher-Gomez ’24 thought of hospitals as his second home. He was diagnosed with cancer, which left him blind in one eye, yet shaped his future aspirations to become a nurse and EMT. While at UNCW, he shared his passion for the profession and the program by serving multiple leadership roles including Honors Ambassador Program coordinator and Association of Nursing Students president. He was a recipient of the Lenora Barnes Scholarship in Nursing, a UNCW Honors Merit Scholarship and a UNCW SOAR Grant.
Watch Kris’s Seahawk Story at uncw.edu/mosher-gomez.
