Wyden, Blackburn Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Tackle Health Care Workforce Shortages

August 01,2024

Wyden, Blackburn Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Tackle Health Care Workforce Shortages

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., today introduced bipartisan legislation to address the persistent shortage of health professionals. The bill, the Health Workforce Innovation Act, provides federal support for innovative, community-led partnerships to educate and train more health care workers, especially in rural and underserved communities.

"American patients and health care providers are struggling in the face of understaffing and workforce shortages across the health care system," Wyden said. "Health care workforce shortages result in long wait times, frustration and burnout for too many Americans and workers, especially in rural and underserved areas. This bipartisan bill will make commonsense investments to support innovative approaches and train the next generation of health professionals by connecting providers with community partners like high schools and community colleges."

"The Health Care Workforce Innovation Act is a vital step in addressing our nation's healthcare workforce shortages," Blackburn said. "This bill will foster innovative, community-driven education and training programs, ensuring a steady pipeline of qualified health professionals ready to serve rural and underserved areas. By providing additional support, community partners can expand programs, increase capacity, and enhance curricula to better prepare students for the health care workforce."

Medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, among other allied health professionals work closely with physicians and nurses to deliver high quality care to patients in every corner of America. These frontline providers make up more than 60 percent of the U.S. health care workforce, but there is a significant projected shortfall in these jobs over the next 10 years. As a result of rising shortages, patients face longer wait times for health care appointments while providers experience fatigue and burnout.

The Health Workforce Innovation Act would establish a new federal grant program to support community health centers and rural health clinics to carry out innovative, community-driven models to train and develop a pipeline of a wide range of allied health professionals, including through partnerships with high schools, community colleges and other entities.

The legislation is cosponsored by Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).

The legislation is endorsed by the American Physical Therapy Association, American Health Information Management Association, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, Community Catalyst, Mental Health America, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Network for Oral Health Access, National Association of Rural Health Clinics, and National Rural Health Association.

The bill text is here. The one-pager is here.

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