DuPage Workforce Board

Health Care Sector

The Workforce Boards of Metro Chicago hosted the first regional summit in December, 2003. The attendees examined the workforce challenges that the health care industry was facing and recommended actions to be undertaken to avert a shortage of skilled employees.

A Summary Report of the Health Care Summit summarizes the findings.

Additional information on the Health Care Sector is available in the Health Care Workforce Turning Crisis into Opportunity Report. This report provides a snapshot of the workforce challenges facing the metropolitan Chicago region's health care industry and focuses on unfilled jobs, skill gaps, and related human resource and training issues. The report also includes solutions developed by the region's health care stakeholders and a description of initiatives funded under the Critical Skills Shortage Initiative.

In DuPage County, the College of DuPage in partnership with the DuPage Workforce Board and executives from all the DuPage County hospitals as well as long term care facilities formed a Health Care Leadership Council. The Leadership Council's focus is to:

• Increase the number of clinical sites
• Share and co-sponsor additional program faculty
• Improve the student and preceptor experiences at affiliated hospitals
• Develop certificate and degree programs in emerging and critical new health care fields

For more information, go to COD's website http://www.cod.edu/dahlc/