Healthcare Workforce

The NGA Center for Best Practices works with states and territories to strengthen their healthcare workforce with the goals of improving health outcomes and reducing costs, generating high quality data, and fostering an accessible, flexible and skilled healthcare workforce. A competent workforce is critical to ensuring that care improves the health of residents and is safe, high quality, available and affordable across a state or territory. The NGA Center works with states and territories to plan for and build a workforce that can meet the needs of a transformed health care system and increase economic activity. This work involves providing technical assistance around key workforce priority areas, including:

  • Health care workforce planning and redesign
  • Identifying strategies to better collect and analyze data to inform and evaluate policy
  • Aligning education and training outcomes with population health needs
  • Building workforce capacity in rural and underserved areas through training, recruitment, retention and technology
  • Aligning licensure and regulation with healthcare workforce goals
  • Identifying mechanisms and implementing state policies to allow providers to practice at the top of their license

Next Generation Of The Healthcare Workforce Project

Concerns about healthcare workforce supply and preparing the next generation of the healthcare workforce have been building for several years for a variety of reasons. In response the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) launched a project to support Governors’ offices and other senior state officials in implementing strategies to strengthen and grow the next generation of the healthcare workforce. By learning directly from other states and national experts, the participating states gained an understanding of innovative and evidence-based policies, programs, and practices to create a positive environment for an enduring healthcare workforce.


Contact Us

For additional information about NGA’s Healthcare Workforce work, please reach out to:


NGA Resources

Regional Workshops Explore Healthcare Workforce Solutions

Regional Workshops Explore Healthcare Workforce Solutions

During the past three months, NGA's Healthcare Delivery and Postsecondary Education teams convened teams from 20 states and territories in a series of regional workshops as part of the Next ...
Preparing the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce: State Strategies for Recruitment and Retention

Preparing the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce: State Strategies for Recruitment and Retention

Through their work together, states have learned ways to strengthen their healthcare career pathways, strategies to attract and retain workers, and methods to coordinate these efforts effectively. (Download) Governors have ...
Healthcare Workforce

Healthcare Workforce

The NGA Center for Best Practices works with states and territories to strengthen their healthcare workforce with the goals of improving health outcomes and reducing costs, generating high quality data, ...
Youth Mental Health: Promoting access and affordability of quality treatment and care

Youth Mental Health: Promoting access and affordability of quality treatment and care

NGA Chair New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer hosted the third convening of the NGA Chair’s Initiative: Strengthening Youth Mental Health, in Detroit, Michigan, from April ...
Governors Lead the Way on Behavioral Health Workforce Needs

Governors Lead the Way on Behavioral Health Workforce Needs

New research from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing shows that 83% of the behavioral health workforce believes providers will not be able to meet the demand for mental health ...
Webinar on Addressing Wages of the Direct Care Workforce through Medicaid Policies

Webinar on Addressing Wages of the Direct Care Workforce through Medicaid Policies

This webinar, held November 10, 2022, discusses the NGA publication “Addressing Wages of the Direct Care Workforce through Medicaid Policies”. Recruiting and retaining direct care workers, including certified nursing assistants ...
Preparing the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce

Preparing the Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce

The Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce Fall Convening featured in-depth report outs on outcomes and accomplishments from NGA’s four Learning Collaborative States – California, Colorado, Missouri, and Wyoming. by ...
Addressing Wages of The Direct Care Workforce Through Medicaid Policies

Addressing Wages of The Direct Care Workforce Through Medicaid Policies

The direct care workforce represents a critical component of the United States employment market, yet pay remains low. States have taken a variety of actions through provider rate increases and ...
Supporting Workers with Disabilities by Addressing the Mental and Behavioral Health Workforce Shortage

Supporting Workers with Disabilities by Addressing the Mental and Behavioral Health Workforce Shortage

A lack of psychiatrists, clinical social workers, therapists and other healthcare workers severely limits a state’s ability to serve workers experiencing stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions that ...
Governors’ Health and Humans Services Policy Advisors Institute 2022

Governors’ Health and Humans Services Policy Advisors Institute 2022

The Governors’ Health and Human Services Policy Advisors Institute provided a valuable space for Governors’ advisors, subject matter experts, and partners to convene and learn from each other. by Myra ...
Modernizing the U.S. public health system

Modernizing the U.S. public health system

Public Health infrastructure is the system that supports the planning, delivery and evaluation of the 10 public health essential services. The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of a robust public ...
Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce Project

Next Generation of the Healthcare Workforce Project

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices is working with States in a new learning collaborative on strategies to grow and retain the next generation of the healthcare workforce ...

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