COVID-19 pandemic ‘magnified’ workforce challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic has “magnified” the workforce challenges facing the state’s health systems, a Wisconsin Hospital Association official said this week.

WHA released its annual workforce report Wednesday, highlighting how COVID-19 further strained an aging workforce facing increased demand for health services as Wisconsinites grow older.

“The trends that were here pre-COVID are going to be here post-COVID,” said Ann Zenk, WHA vice president of workforce and clinical practice. “We may just have a better lens to look at them through, and one of the biggest trends continues to be the aging of Wisconsin.”

The report recommends a “grow our own” approach to the Wisconsin healthcare workforce and breaking down barriers that prevent providers from working at the top of their practice.

The pandemic also provided “solutions” on how to expand the workforce quickly, like telehealth and the need for lessening the burden of regulatory compliance, Zenk said.

And COVID-19 has also highlighted the need to assess health system and public health capacity. For instance, hospitals had to assume the primary role for the clinical testing and surveillance testing, often serving as the only source of testing in the community, she said.

She said the pandemic involves “a huge volume of need.”

“We’ve never encountered anything like COVID – not just hundreds or thousands, but tens of thousands of tests and vaccinations and patients for Wisconsin health systems,” Zenk said. “That volume was well beyond the current public health infrastructure.”

She said WHA will encourage its members and the Department of Health Services to grow the state’s workforce faster and “more wisely” by targeting it to in-demand professions and ensuring it reflects the communities it serves.

This article first appeared in the Wisconsin Health News daily email newsletter. Sign up for your free trial here.