As healthcare facilities across the country scrambled to secure personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ochsner Health came up with a sustainable solution.
The New Orleans-based health system partnered with local companies to launch a PPE manufacturing operation, SafeSource Direct, to provide reliable supplies of high-quality exam gloves, N95 masks, furry head coverings, and isolation gowns. We have secured a supply source.
Ochsner Health is taking the same approach to addressing the shortage of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, partnering with local agencies to train and train staff to develop their workforce. We are doing training.
Ochsner Health is a member of the AMA Health System Program, which provides enterprise solutions that provide leaders, physicians, and care teams with resources to advance the future of health care.
The health system has invested more than $5 million to operate 29 workforce programs, with more than 1,200 participants expected in 2022, said Leonard Seoane, MD, Ochsner Health's executive vice president and chief academic officer. told the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. last year.
“We are focused on increasing the supply of nurses, expanding avenues for high school and college students to participate in health care training programs, and advancing our existing workforce by offering 'earn while you learn' programs.” We have been working on it,” Dr Seoane told senators.
find an effective partner
This do-it-yourself mentality is “a culture that has evolved, and that evolution was accelerated by Hurricane Katrina,” Dr. Seoane said in an interview, referring to the 2005 disaster.
But he added that Ochsner Health is not taking on this burden alone. The company partners with institutions across the region and as far away as Australia to address these workforce challenges.
Dr. Yvens Laborde, Ochsner's chief regional medical officer, said one way to address the primary care physician shortage is to use physician-led, team-based care, but all members of the team He said finding people to fill positions can be difficult.
“I've been in this job for more than 20 years, and the nursing shortage has been an issue for as long as I can remember, but it's been exacerbated by the stress of the pandemic,” Dr. Laborde said.
“The nursing crisis is similar to the physician crisis in that the numbers are almost hard to come by,” Dr. Seoane said. “There is also a crisis in the number of related medical workers.We simply don't have enough radiographers, laboratory technicians, surgical technicians, etc.''
Ochsner Health takes a “now, near and far” approach to meet immediate demands while developing pathways to address long-term needs.
“The ‘now’ is to focus on burnout and retention, and keep turnover as low as possible,” Dr. Seoane said.
To meet near-term needs, Ochsner Health has partnered with several institutions to find innovative ways to build its workforce. This includes the system's collaboration with the University of Queensland in Australia, where students split their time between the two continents.
Since the first class graduated in 2009, about 30 percent of the program's new physicians have remained in Louisiana. This year's graduates will include the 1,000th physician to receive a diploma from the program.
This summer, the first doctors to graduate from the Ochsner Physician Scholars Program at the Louisiana State University (LSU Health) Shreveport School of Medicine will begin practicing in rural areas of the state.
“She has completed her family medicine training and will start in July, so I think her work is already paying off,” Dr. Seoane said.
Medical students from LSU, the University of Queensland and the Ochsner Clinical School are eligible to apply for this program. If selected, they will receive a payment from Ochsner Health for medical school costs. Instead, students complete a residency program in either family medicine, internal medicine primary care, internal medicine pediatric primary care (dual certification), or psychiatry and then work at an Ochsner Health facility for five years. i promise.
The system announced plans to develop the Xavier Oschner School of Medicine in January 2023. He plans to open the school in about four years with an initial enrollment of 50 students.
The new Morgan State University School of Medicine will join the nation's four existing historically black medical schools: Howard University School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Meharry School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. Become.
“Our partnership with Xavier University of Louisiana has a clear mission: to train a more diverse group of physicians to represent our communities,” said Dr. Theoane.
Black people make up 13% to 15% of the U.S. population, but only 5% of practicing physicians, he noted. Meanwhile, Hispanics make up about 20% of the U.S. population, but only about 6% of the physician workforce.
Building a diverse medical team
Building a diverse medical team
Ochsner Health has been affiliated with Xavier College of Pharmacy since 1982. The school and health system established a Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science degree in 2021. And last May, the first of his 37 students graduated from the Xavier Ochsner Physician Assistant Program.
The May 2025 Commencement Ceremony will be held for the first graduating class of the Loyola University New Orleans Nursing Program, which features clinical training at Ochsner Medical Facility. Meanwhile, in the same month, the first classes in Ochsner Health's nursing program will be offered at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
The Ochsner Nursing Scholars Program also provides financial assistance to more than 450 students pursuing various nursing degrees in Louisiana and Mississippi. The scholars program will expand to include allied health students in fall 2024.
In addition, Ochsner Health received a $1.1 million Work Opportunity Initiative for Rural Communities grant from the U.S. Department of Labor last fall to provide jobs for relocating military health professionals and underemployed veterans. obtained.
“Our original goal was to hire 300 veterans in both clinical and non-clinical care areas at Ochsner over a three-year period,” said Dr. Laborde. “It was a great success. We achieved our original goal within six months.”
Both he and Dr. Theoane have consulted Ochsner Health's Vice President of Talent Management and Workforce Development, Dr. Missy Hopson, and Vice President of Talent Acquisition on the success of veterans programs and other workforce development and recruitment initiatives. We recognize the accomplishments of our president, Adriana Kriesen.
“We hired a dedicated senior recruiter to focus on that business,” Dr. Laborde said. “We have a great talent acquisition team here.”
Dr. Seoane credited Mr. Hopson with providing a program to identify and train medical assistant candidates in areas with high unemployment and a lack of resources. He said 100% of those who completed his training were hired.
Human resource development starts early
Human resource development starts early
As an example of thinking far into the future, Dr. Seoane pointed to Hopson's medical assistant high school apprenticeship program, where students stay in school, work at Ochsner Health, and earn credits to become certified assistant nurses.
“We take in high school students who may have financial constraints that force them to drop out, reduce the financial burden on their families, and give them purpose so they are more likely to stay in school.” he said.
There are also programs that expose middle school and high school students to careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Meanwhile, Ochsner Academic Summer Internships for Students (OASIS) provides experience for college-age children of Ochsner Health employees who are interested in pursuing a career in the medical or biomedical fields.
Dr. Seoane said Ochsner Health is helping students from historically excluded racial and ethnic groups become “not just physicians, but data scientists, researchers, laboratory technicians, surgical technicians, and advanced technologists.” He added that he is committed to creating a path for him to become one.