Column: How to get more health care workers

Hawaii has close to 3,900 vacant job positions in health care, according to the 2022 Hawaii Healthcare Workforce Initiative Report recently released by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii (HAH), available at hah.org/hwi22.

The need for both seasoned and entry-level health care workers is significant and has increased 76% since 2019, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the 89 professions surveyed in this year’s report, most health-care jobs in Hawaii are taking six to 12 months to fill, which remains a stubbornly long time that has persisted since the 2019 report.

The question is, how do we go about creating a strong pipeline of qualified workers to fill this need, which will grow as our society ages? What can we do differently?

During the pandemic, HAH has been collaborating closely with its member organizations and the education sector to better match worker supply to demand. Part of that work includes the “glidepath” or “earn-and-learn” approach, which enables working students to remain in their health care jobs while attending school to advance their careers. Traditionally, employees had to quit their jobs to study full-time because class times conflict with work hours.

The first licensed practical nursing (LPN) program glidepath was created in 2022 and will be piloted with specific health care employers through the University of Hawaii Maui College. With 37 students enrolled on Maui, Kauai and Oahu in the inaugural class, we’ve already doubled the working supply of Hawaii’s newly educated LPNs.

Another innovation, this time at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, enables nursing students to start training in obstetrics and newborn care while still in college. Previously, they graduated first, then searched for one of the limited clinical placements in their preferred specialties. The Nursing Academy Innovations Program that Kapiolani developed places new graduates at the bedside within weeks of graduation versus the typical 12- to 18-week lag.

What else can we do? The HAH report shows Hawaii has no local training programs in areas such as sonography and surgical technology, and that most training programs in health care exist only on Oahu. Offering programs on neighbor islands would let employers in those locations hire locally. The report shows neighbor islands have higher percentages of job openings due to difficulties in finding trained staff.

The truth is that everyone needs health care at some point. That’s why people entering the health care workforce need options, and preferably local ones, for their training.

Having lived through the painful downsizing trends caused by the pandemic, with unprecedented mass layoffs in everything from banking to hospitality, some workers have been skittish about joining or re-entering the workforce. Not only is health care a high calling with tremendous rewards, but it also promises stability and growth potential with choices, good wages and benefits.

Many public high schools offer health academies in which students graduate with certifications and can go to work in health care on Day One after graduation (“Career academies gain traction in Hawaii public schools,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 13, 2022).

Let’s work together on ways to give Hawaii students opportunities to enter health care as a profession. Hawaii has enough need on every island to make health care a good career choice. We thank the HAH members, academic partners, and government and community partners who are actively collaborating with us.

As a community, our health depends on it.

Hilton R. Raethel is CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii (HAH); Carl Hinson is director of workforce development, Hawaii Pacific Health; Jason Chang is president of The Queen’s Medical Center. Hinson and Chang co-chair the HAH Healthcare Workforce Initiative.