The Office of the Phoenix Bioscience Core is seeking a new workforce development coordinator to support the Arizona Board of Regents and universities’ efforts to reduce Arizona’s health care workforce gap.

The role, funded through the generous support of the Mercy C.A.R.E.S Arizona, would establish and develop partnerships between the universities and clinical partners across the state to grow professional development pathways and opportunities for health-related students at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and community colleges across the state. This role would would focus primarily on Arizona’s nursing and behavioral health workforce shortages, while also supporting programs related to physicians, occupational therapy and physical therapy. For nursing, there is immense opportunity and need in the areas of long-term care, independent living and assisted living facilities, Certified Nursing Assistant programs, and skilled nursing roles.

These efforts are a part of a statewide initiative led by the Arizona Board of Regents to address the growing health care workforce shortage in the state. Arizona currently ranks 48th in health care workforce, according to recent reports, and through continued burnout and the state’s rapidly growing population, that demand is increasing every day.

“Arizona has one of the largest health care-workforce shortages in the United States, and it is critical we work to address this issue today,” said PBC Executive Director Scarlett Spring. “This new role will play a vital part in creating new opportunities for today’s students to develop the skills needed to serve Arizonans and improve the health of communities across the state.”

This role will convene the three Arizona State Universities and key community colleges —  including rural college representation — and work with their internship, clinical rotations, practicums, coordinators, and job placement support to identify and connect the next generation of healthcare workers to internships/job placement opportunities, with a priority on the Mercy Care and Medicaid network. They would identify academic gaps and target new methods of collaboration and learnings to accelerate efforts taking place across the PBC. These programs would include internships for students of all levels; collaborations with clinical partners such as Dignity Health, Valleywise Health, outpatient integrated health clinics, long- term care facilities and others; and pipeline programs into career fields for graduates of our academic institutions.

To learn more about the qualifications and how to apply for this position, click here.

AZ Healthy Tomorrow

The Arizona Board of Regents embarked on a new initiative last year to charge the three public research universities with plans to increase the number of graduates in health care-related degrees, the goal being to make a significant reduction in the workforce gap in critical health care related positions including doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and other roles. Each university has since revealed its own plans on how they plan to meet these goals.

• Arizona State University announced the establishment of ASU Health, a new “learning health ecosystem” that includes the formation of a new School of Medicine and Advanced Biomedical Engineering, a new School of Public Health Technology, and a Public Health Observatory. The new ASU Health headquarters is expected to be located in Downtown Phoenix on or near the Phoenix Bioscience Core, with students being enrolled in the coming years.
• Northern Arizona University also announced the launch of its own medical school, as well as a significant effort to increase student enrollment and graduation at all of its health-related schools. NAU has its College of Health and Human Services on the Phoenix Bioscience Core, and over the next decade its expected to double the number of degrees awarded and students retained to practice in Arizona across the health professions disciplines that include physical and occupational therapy, physician assistant studies, dental hygiene, and more.
• The University of Arizona, which already has two medical schools, will double the number of medical graduates and expand its partnership with Banner Health to create a fully integrated academic medical center. In Phoenix, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and Banner Health announced a plan to increase residency and fellowship positions for UArizona College of Medicine students in Phoenix. The expansion of their Graduate Medical Education programs with 229 additional residency and fellowship positions. The initiative will expand three programs in 2024 and build 16 new programs by 2027, growing the number of specialty-trained physicians through the partnership by more than 60 percent, a statement said.