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About the Nursing & Allied Health Initiative
Beginning in 2005, the Department of Higher Education (DHE), with the support of the Massachusetts Legislature, has been working in partnership with nursing professional associations, industry and other health care stakeholders and with public and private higher education institutions to develop statewide and regional programs to address the shortage of nurses and nursing faculty.
As in other sectors of the workforce, the severe downturn in the economy in recent years has affected the supply of and demand for nurses. Hospitals are treating fewer patients as individuals delay self admission; many nurses who had planned to retire are staying in their jobs; part-time nurses are seeking more hours; and non-working nurses with spouses who have lost jobs are returning to work. Employers, policy makers, educators and the public must understand that these workforce trends are isolated and temporary, and represent a fragile stopgap to the long-term problem. The fundamental causes of the nursing shortage, aging nurse and nursing faculty populations as well as severe limitations on the capacity to educate new nurses, remain unchanged.
The Nursing and Allied Health Initiative has, to date, placed a priority on strengthening the nursing education pipeline. The DHE is very much aware of shortages in several allied health fields and believes that some of the partnership and program models developed for nursing could be adjusted to address prominent allied health shortages. For example, the DHE is working with stakeholders to develop a higher education/hospital partnership in the Boston area that will focus on widening access to higher education for incumbent workers seeking to advance in key allied health areas.
Through partnerships, the Department of Higher Education seeks to increase the number of nursing faculty, improve the capacity in public higher education nursing programs, and meet the future demands for health care personnel. The Nursing and Allied Health Initiative Advisory Committee assists with the strategic goals of the program.
Committee Members (as of 12/31/2012):
| Kelly Aiken | Regional Employment Board, Hampden County |
Director, Healthcare Workforce Initiatives |
| Daniel Asquino | Mount Wachusett Community College | President |
| Deborah Banda | AARP | State Director |
| Judy Beal | Nurse of the Future Working Group | Co-Chair |
| Carolyn Blanks | Massachusetts Senior Care Foundation | Executive Director |
| Anne Marie Boursiquot King | Tufts Health Care Foundation | Director of Grants and Policy |
| Elaine Bridge | Academic Practice Integration Committee | Co-Chair |
| David Cedrone, Tri-Chair |
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education | Associate Commissioner for Economic & Workforce Development |
| Gino Chisari | Nurse of the Future Working Group | Co-Chair |
| Eileen Costello | Mount Wachusett Community College | Dean, School of Health Sciences |
| Patricia Crombie | Massachusetts Department of Higher Education | Nurse Coordinator, Education Redesign |
| Dale Earl | Massachusetts Department of Higher Education | Coordinator for Healthcare Workforce Development |
| Ellen Eaton | Salem State University | Chairperson, School of Nursing |
| Mary Folan | Bunker Hill Community College | Chairperson, Nursing Education |
| Sharon Gale, Tri-Chair |
Organization of Nurse Leaders, MA/RI | Chief Executive Officer |
| Mary Grant | Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Mass Health at Elder Affairs | Clinical Director, Office of Long Term Services and Supports |
| William Hart | Massachusetts Community College Executive Office | Executive Director |
| Jennifer James | Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor & Workforce Development | Undersecretary, Workforce Development |
| Kay Khan | Massachusetts House of Representatives | Co-Chair, Jt. Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities |
| Patricia Meservey | Salem State University | President |
| Richard Moore | Massachusetts Senate | Senate Chair, Jt. Committee on Health Care Financing |
| Eric Nakajima | Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development | Senior Innovation Advisor |
| Pat Noga, Tri-Chair | Massachusetts Hospital Association | Vice President, Clinical Affairs |
| Judie Pelletier | Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing | Nursing Education Coordinator |
| Paulette Seymour-Route | Academic Practice Integration Committee | Co-Chair |
| Karen Shack | Commonwealth Corporation | Senior Workforce Development Consultant |
| Maureen Sroczynski | RWJF/Tufts Health Plan - Partners Investing in Nursing's Future Grants | Project Director |
| Mary Tarbell | Springfield Technical Community College | Dean, School of Nursing |
| Marie Tobin | Massachusetts Department of Higher Education | Centralized Clinical Placement System, Nurse Coordinator |
| Donna Kelly Williams | Massachusetts Nurses Association | President |