North Mississippi Health Services has been evolving our workforce through innovation and a teammate-centered view. At its core, this evolution is about engaging our teammates, supporting their wellbeing and putting them in a position to provide the best patient care.

Working in health care is a rewarding job but can be physically and emotionally
taxing. Yet so many of our teammates remain committed to what they do because of their strong connection to our purpose. Over the years there has been a labor shortage in health care, including many clinical roles, nursing and support services. That shortage was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To combat this, NMHS has redesigned our recruitment process and worked to build a pipeline of future workers across our organization.

In November of 2022, there were 11 million openings across the United States and only 6 million people to fill them. Those numbers haven’t changed much in the last 18 months. Job titles aside, we must solve this math problem before we can fill our pipeline.

One way we can build that pipeline is through institutional and community partnerships. This can look like generating interest by reaching out to high school students who are already in health care pathways.

We are exploring scholarship opportunities, loan forgiveness and even recruiting in international markets to build those partnerships and get those students connected to us. Some of those tactics are long-term and some are short-term, but the bigger picture is this: how do we keep that pipeline consistently flowing without running into bottlenecks or other barriers?