Members of the First State Health Leaders Alliance (FSHLA) advocated at Legislative Hall this week to promote their initiatives to support and expand Delaware’s healthcare workforce.
Alliance members, including the Delaware Healthcare Association, the Delaware Nurses Association, the Delaware Pharmacists Society, and the Medical Society of Delaware, held a call-to-action event on Tuesday, highlighting the need to:
- Support comprehensive data collection to better define healthcare professional shortages.
- Target resources into incentives to recruit, educate, and retain healthcare workers.
- Invest in programs that cultivate interest in health careers at a young age.
- Work collaboratively to protect healthcare workers and support violence mitigation and de-escalation strategies.
The advocates were joined by multiple lawmakers, including Speaker of the House Melissa Minor-Brown (D-New Castle), State Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner (R-Georgetown), and State Rep. Jeff Hilovsky (R-Long Neck, Oak Orchard) — all three of whom have spent their careers as medical professionals (see photo).
“As a nurse, I know our healthcare workers don’t back down from any challenge,” Speaker Minor-Brown said. “It’s ingrained in our DNA to fix problems and make a difference… In order to have a strong Delaware, we need a strong healthcare workforce.”
Rep. Jones Giltner, noted that it was fitting that Tuesday’s advocacy day coincided with Health Workforce Well-Being Day. “One of the main ways in which we can support our workforce is to invest in creating the safest environments possible for them. We must start here. Only with a protected workforce can we, as a state, achieve our healthcare system goals of providing quality healthcare to all our citizens.”
