Official State of Rhode Island website

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services State of Rhode Island

Workgroups, Subcommittees, and Projects

Coming together to solve Rhode Island's health & human services workforce crisis

Healthcare workforce shortages are affecting every state in the country, and they won’t be solved overnight. But, that is not stopping health & human services providers, educators, policymakers, advocates, and many others who have been meeting regularly to develop solutions to Rhode Island’s health workforce challenges.

Starting with the Health Workforce Summit, which was co-hosted by EOHHS, DLT, OPC, and the RI Foundation in April '22, an energized group of public/private partners from across RI’s health and education system joined together to collaboratively address critical health systems and workforce priorities. 

Workgroups were convened shortly following the 2022 Summit, and since then, over 400 individuals from over 160 organizations have participated to develop and implement solutions.

On June 6th, 2023 we held Rhode Island's Second Annual Health & Human Services Workforce Summit, where we celebrated accomplishments from the first-year planning process and outlined the vision for The Rhode Ahead. All Summit materials can be accessed here. 

Project Updates:

March 20, 2023: View Healthcare Workforce Planning Project Updates slides HERE.  One-hour Project Updates Presentation recording can be accessed HERE. 

Current 2023 Workgroups:

1. Career Pathways Advisory Committees

**Career Ladders Visuals (Drafts): Behavioral Health; Direct Care/Nursing

January 

  • Behavioral Health: Monday, January 9th, 2023 - Presentation 
  • Direct Care/Nursing: Tuesday, January 10th - Presentation

February

March

April 

  • Combined Behavioral Health & Direct Care/Nursing: Monday, April 24th - Presentation

May (Focus: Occupational Licensing Requirements)

  • Behavioral Health: Monday, May 15th - Agenda
  • Direct Care/Nursing: Monday, May 22nd, 2:30pm-4:00pm, EOHHS Virks Training Room, 3 West Rd., Cranston - Agenda

2. Workforce Data Workgroup

  • Wednesday, January 18th, 2023, Agenda
  • Thursday, March 16th Agenda

Initiatives:

Each of the workgroups have begun to develop short-term and longer-term initiatives to increase the supply, diversity, and support for the health & human services workforce, including:

  • Organized a Career Development Day - Held April 1st, 2023 @ RI Nursing Education Center
  • Strengthen industry and higher education partnerships with Career & Tech programs
  • Increase awareness of loan repayment programs
  • Eliminate delays in NA testing and licensure
  • Expand clinical placement opportunities for students
  • Create career ladders to support advancement from entry-level occupations
  • Analyze licensure data to better understand workforce gaps
  • Assist foreign-trained health professionals to obtain RI licensure
  • Create online resources for health workforce training, education, jobs, and data

If you would like to be part of any of these efforts, just send us an email.

2022 Workgroups:

1. Health & Human Services Career Pathways and Pipelines

Purpose: To ensure a sufficient supply of health and human services workers by providing students, job seekers, and incumbent workers with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to obtain employment and advance in their careers.

Executive Sponsor: Matt Weldon, Director, RI Department of Labor & Training

Co-facilitators: Alyssa Alvarado, Governor’s Workforce Board and Howard Dulude, Hospital Association of RI

Workgroup meetings:

2. Health & Human Services Partnerships with Higher Education

Purpose: To build engaged and enduring partnerships across and among Institutions of Higher Education and health & human service providers to anticipate and address the training and education needs of health and human services agencies and staff.

Executive Sponsor: Shannon Gilkey, Commissioner, RI Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner

Co-facilitators: Amy Grzybowski, RIOPC and Sandra Victorino, Care New England, Commission for Health Advocacy & Equity

Workgroup meetings:

3. Health & Human Services Workforce Data Collection & Analytics

Purpose: To identify, align, and develop resources needed for Rhode Island to collect and analyze current workforce supply, projected workforce demand, and effective workforce support programming across all occupations, specializations, education levels (including lived experience), sectors, geography, etc. – with a particular focus on racial, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity. This work will ensure that providers and patients/clients have the supported and well-compensated health and human service workforce needed to provide accessible, high-quality health and human services.

Executive Sponsor: Ana Novais, Secretary, RI Executive Office of Health & Human Services (EOHHS)

Co-facilitators: Marti Rosenberg, RI EOHHS and Larry Warner, VP, United Way of RI; Chair, Commission for Health Advocacy & Equity

Workgroup meetings: