Wisconsin task force on health care workers wants more money

(The Center Square) – The latest proposal for Wisconsin’s health care workforce would have the state spend a lot more money.

The Governor’s Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce recently released its final report. The 75-page report doesn’t include a specific price tag, but it asks for more money for new nurses, nurses who are already on the job, apprenticeships, health care education and frontline staffers.

“The state must continue working to identify potential solutions that support the health care industry and everyone our health care systems aim to serve. To address long-standing challenges, we must also include efforts to ensure current workers remain in the workforce, target investments to remove barriers to employment, and support initiatives to attract, recruit, and retain talent across Wisconsin,” the report states. “We must also continue to pursue solutions to ensure the state’s health care workforce is prepared to meet the needs of our state.”

There are some recommendations to deregulate Wisconsin’s health care rules, but most of the focus of the report is finding a way for the state to support more training, more education and more workforce goals.

“In total, the task force adopted 10 recommendations with 26 action items representing a variety of policy and implementation approaches aimed at addressing issues such as education, training, recruitment and retention of healthcare workers,” the report adds.

Gov. Tony Evers says he supports the proposal.

“This action plan will help bring more folks into the health care profession and ensure that Wisconsinites get the care they need and the quality of life they deserve,” the governor said. ““Making sure our workforce is prepared to meet the needs of a 21st-century economy is a top priority for me and must be a top priority for our state, including the State Legislature, and I look forward to working together and considering these recommendations in the next biennial budget.”

Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development is predicting Wisconsin will need 20,000 new nurses by 2040.

That number came from a report released earlier this month that looked at trends among registered nurses and advanced practice nurses.

That report says Wisconsin is facing a shortage, particularly among young nurses, following the coronavirus outbreak. There’s also a gap when it comes to licensed nurses who’ve either left the profession or have found other work.