The Governor's Task Force on Healthcare Workforce released its final report this week. This report has been submitted to the Governor who will consider these recommendations as he builds his 2025-27 state budget, which will be released in January or February.
We encourage you to review all 26 recommendations, and the following may be of particular interest to WRS:
Increase Licensee Wellness Programming to Support Retention
Wisconsin is an outlier in that it is one of the few states that does not offer a comprehensive wellness program to physicians. The Task Force recommends establishing a comprehensive clinician wellbeing and retention program designed to support the health care workforce and keep them practicing at the highest level of safe practice.
Expand State Incentives for Health Professionals Serving in State-Defined Shortage Areas
The Task Force recommends providing targeted funding to expand state incentive programs for health care professionals to include those serving in underserved communities. Incentive strategies may include expanded student loan repayment and other innovations to enhance recruitment and retention in state defined shortage areas.
Support Pathways to Licensure for Qualified Foreign Educated Professionals
The Task Force recommends providing funding to add legal capacity at DSPS to clarify and expand pathways to practice for qualifying foreign-educated or foreign-trained health professionals.
Maintain Licensing Improvements and Enhance Licensing Support for Applicants, Employers, Educators, and Other Stakeholders
Some of the temporary DSPS staff positions allocated by the last budget will expire on June 30, 2025, which will reduce DSPS’s capacity by a third. The Task Force recommends maintaining DSPS licensing service levels by making temporary positions permanent, by adding dedicated staff to support employers, educators, and other key stakeholder groups who regularly engage in the credentialing process for employees and students, and by adding staff who can answer complex practice questions and generate educational and information tools that increase practice competence and confidence among regulated professionals.
Support employer-based workforce development solutions with Provider Innovation Grants.
The Task Force recommends expanding the home and community-based services provider innovation grant. They recommend providing sustained funding and administrative support for a provider innovation grant program to help health care providers implement best practices and innovative solutions to support the workforce. These grant funds could be leveraged by employers to develop and share innovative strategies to retain their existing health care workforce.
Analyze Existing and Gather Additional Data on the Health Care Workforce
The Task Force recommends implementing workforce surveys for health professions and allocating resources necessary for the data collection, analysis, and dissemination.
Reduce Barriers to training by funding wraparound services programs for students
The Task Force recommends funding wraparound services programs, administered by state institutions of higher education, to address barriers to education such as transportation, technology and child care.
