WHAT IS THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP TABLE?
The Healthcare Industry Leadership Table is a self-convened network of healthcare organizations (big and small) from Seattle-King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties who come together to share and take action on expanding equitable access to a skilled healthcare workforce. The goal of HILT is to be a forum for improving health equity, high-quality sharing of promising practices, and joint action by healthcare/medical organizations to train, recruit, and advance quality healthcare professionals in our region.
who participates?
HILT participation ranges from CEO-level leaders to HR Directors, and leadership positions in between at the Chief of Staffing, VP of Talent, Chief of Nursing levels. Because HILT is deliberately a network of large hospital systems, medium sized clinics and smaller, non-profit providers, the “just right” participant varies. Participation by whoever has decision making authority within their organization and who focuses on recruiting and retaining a talented workforce is the right person.
Why do healthcare organizations participate?
Because they don’t want to miss out on the shared opportunity to grow our region’s own skilled healthcare workforce, to share promising practices related to retention and advancement, and to network together on potential policy issues that can lead to a stronger skilled workforce for the healthcare community overall.
why did hilt launch?
It was launched in May 2018 by a group of healthcare leaders (King County Public Health, Kin On Assisted Living, International Community Health Services, Swedish, Children’s, Kaiser Permanente) as a way to identify shared priorities across our region’s healthcare providers, and mobilize around shared solutions. It originally focused on a wide variety of topics, beyond workforce issues, but it has since narrowed its scope in order to become the shared forum for the healthcare provider industry to understand and dig into skilled workforce issues together.
Does HILT work with other organizations?
It is not housed in any organization. It is coordinated by a staff person, and it is uniquely supported by an integrated team of partners from Seattle Colleges, Highline College, Seattle Public Schools, the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County, Seattle Jobs Initiative, City of Seattle, King County, University of Washington School of Nursing, 1199C Training Fund, and others. It is unique in this way – it is not an initiative of any organization, public or private. It is a collaborative effort with backbone staffing provided by a neutral third party.
Is there money involved?
The HILT is not an organization, a grant or a mandate from a state or federal funding source. It is an action-oriented network of healthcare organizations. The coordinator position is funded by a grant from JP Morgan Chase Foundation. Other healthcare networks or partnerships similar to HILT in other parts of the country tend to attract grants and investment over time. HILT is likely to do so too, depending on the areas of focus and active leadership/direct participation from healthcare organizations in the region.
what can you expect from hilt?
If you’re a healthcare organization (big, small, and in any sector of healthcare services), you can expect to be connected with your peers (and even competitors!) in our region’s healthcare community. Networking together is a big benefit of being a part of the HILT. You can also expect to actively participate in conversations that dig into root causes of workforce shortages, promising practices that help resolve shortages, and shared projects that scale solutions up. The HILT is totally driven by active participation from healthcare organizations, but that doesn’t mean it has to take a lot of your time. Because HILT involves many healthcare organizations, each can commit whatever amount of time they choose.
What is HILT focused on right now?
The HILT currently has two active committees including, Talent Pipeline & Recruitment and the Behavioral Health Skills Workgroup. The HILT meets quarterly, and these committees meet and have activities in between. In addition to these committees, HILT is actively convening conversations about partnering with Amazon, best practices related to hosting internships, occupation shortage including nursing, medical assistants, as well as dental assistants/hygienists, and other topics of shared interest.