Central Ohio's healthcare giants are galloping to keep up with the region's growth, building new facilities that'll need to be staffed by legions of trained healthcare professionals that don't yet exist. As reported in Columbus Business First, Central Ohio's four major hospital systems are right now trying fill more than 2,200 open positions in nursing alone. Rural Ohioans too are suffering from the ill effects of too-few healthcare professionals, with "care deserts" leaving entire Ohio counties without critical specialists. What's being done to close the huge gap in the ranks of Ohio's healthcare professionals? That's the subject of this week's CMC forum.

This forum's expert panelists are:

Dr. Todd Ambrosia, President, Mount Carmel College of Nursing

Dr. Karen Rose, Dean, The Ohio State University College of Nursing

Susan Beaudry, Vice President, The Osteopathic Heritage Foundations

Dr. Chynna Smith, Family Medicine Resident, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital

The host is Greg Moody, Director of Professional Development, The John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.

CMC's Optimal Health Series of healthcare-focused forums is presented by Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and OhioHealth. This forum was sponsored by Epstein Becker & Green, Mount Carmel Health System, The Health Policy Institute of Ohio, The Center for Community Solutions, Cardinal Health, The Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Ohio, and The Central Ohio Health Sector Partnership. It was supported by The Ellis.

The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on January 24, 2024.