STAR² Center Talks Workforce Success

Supportive partnerships are essential to the "grow your own" approach to workforce development through Health Professions Education and Training (HP-ET) programs. In this episode of the STAR² Center Talks Workforce Success podcast, Amy Weinstein of Thundermist Health Center explains how cultivating a variety of partnerships at the local, state, and national level supports Thundermist's array of HP-ET programming to prepare prospective members of the workforce and support their current employees in their personal and professional goals. Amy also shares how these partnerships have helped to prepare Thundermist to bring additional programming in-house in the coming years as an official teaching health center.

The "grow your own" approach to workforce development is gaining traction at health centers across the country. As workforce teams design and implement the health professions education and training (HP-ET) programs that best serve their communities, it is helpful to hear from individuals who have followed the HP-ET pathway in their own careers. This episode features a conversation with Robyn Weiss, Director of Workforce Development at the Northwest Regional Primary Care Association (NWRPCA), and Dr. Martin Peters, Regional Director of Medical Education and Clinical Assistant Professor at A.T. Still University, who has firsthand experience as a participant in and now champion of health center HP-ET programs.

The fifth season of the STAR² Center Talks Workforce Success podcast highlights Primary Care Organizations (PCAs), Community Health Centers (CHCs), and National Training and Technical Assistant Partners (NTTAPs) who successfully used, disseminated, and/or implemented practices, strategies, tools, and more gathered from the STAR² Center's training opportunities, technical assistance, or original resources. In this episode, Michelle Fernández Gabilondo is joined by Malulani Eccleshall, Human Resources Director at Waimānalo Health Center. Malulani shares the health center's unique approach to recruitment and retention and the successful implementation of strategies learned at a recent STAR² Center workshop to enhance their team cohesion and connection with the local community. Learn more about the Waimānalo Health Center Cultural Health and Waimānalo Community.

The fifth season of the STAR² Center Talks Workforce Success podcast highlights Primary Care Organizations (PCAs), Community Health Centers (CHCs), and National Training and Technical Assistant Partners (NTTAPs) who successfully used, disseminated, and/or implemented practices, strategies, tools, and more gathered from the STAR² Center's training opportunities, technical assistance, or original resources. In this episode, Michelle Fernández Gabilondo speaks with Candace Owen, education director at the National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA), about changes impacting the oral health workforce as the effects of the pandemic continue to unfold in health centers. Candace and Michelle revisit NNOHA and STAR² Center collaborative trainings and discuss how the STAR² Center's Comprehensive Workforce Plan template can be used to engage leadership in developing dental staff at health centers.

Creating work spaces that foster resiliency and wellbeing is critical to building and retaining a strong, compassionate workforce. The fourth season of the STAR² Center Talks Workforce Success podcast focuses on the ways organizations support their employees and empower them to address and prevent the challenges of compassion fatigue and burnout. In this episode, ACU's Alex Rohlwing speaks with  Brooke Sims, Director of Integrated Health, Carrie Farquhar, Director of Workforce Development, and Dr. Dana Vallangeon, Chief Medical Officer, at the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers. In this conversation, the OACHC team shares their assessment of the current state of the health center workforce and their approach to wellness as a collective, collaborative, integrated process both for Ohio's health centers and internally at the PCA.

La creación de espacios de trabajo que fomenten la resiliencia y el bienestar es fundamental para construir y retener una fuerza laboral fuerte y compasiva. La cuarta temporada del podcast STAR² Center Habla Sobre el Éxito de la Fuerza Laboral se centra en las formas en que las organizaciones apoyan a sus empleados para combatir el problema de quemazón, agotamiento, y fatiga por compasión. En este episodio, ACU habla con Edgardo Vázquez-Fonseca el Especialista en Salud Publica de la Asociación de Salud Primaria de Puerto Rico.