HIP COMMUNITY FORUM
In the spirit of promoting collaboration, HIP strives to bring together its network of partners and the wider Santa Cruz Community with nationally renowned speakers and experts. The Annual Community Forum is an opportunity for Santa Cruz, as a whole, to engage with experts in high level ideas, policies, legislation in regard to health care. This event is held every year with topics ranging from legislative health care reform to social determinants of health. The event offers a unique chance for the larger community to hear how HIP is working to improve the lives of our community.
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2022 HIP Annual Community Forum
Growing our Own: Cultivating Health Career Pathways in Santa Cruz County
In partnership with the Santa Cruz County Workforce Development Board, HIP hosted its 2022 Annual Community Forum, Growing our Own: Cultivating Health Career Pathways in Santa Cruz County on Wednesday, September 14th in Aptos, CA.
HIP’s Annual Community Forum united and engaged the greater Santa Cruz County community in meaningful conversation around strategies for improving the healthcare workforce. This year’s forum aimed to re-energize community partnerships and engagement in HIP’s recently launched Santa Cruz County Health Workforce Council to increase opportunities for Santa Cruz County residents to advance in health professions and align and expand education and training through pipeline programs, work-based learning, and continued professional development for incumbent workers.
Keynote speaker, Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health and
author of WorkforceRx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers,
Educators, and Workers in Unsettled Times shared insights from her
book on a solutions framework for tackling workforce challenges that
incorporate employers, educators, and community-based organizations
and workforce development boards. This framework produces skilled
workers who are diverse and from the community in a reliable way and
encourages stacking credentials to create on-ramps and off-ramps for
students and incumbent workers to pursue healthcare careers.
In addition to Ton-Quinlivan, a recorded presentation from Abby Snay, Deputy Secretary of the Future of Work with California Labor and Workforce Development Agency on state funding for the health workforce was shared, and engaging presentations from Josh Williams, President at BW Research Partnership, Inc., on the 2022 Santa Cruz County State of the Workforce Report, which included a deeper dive into health workforce data across the county, and Laura Marcus, CEO of Dientes Dental Community Care, on their successful workforce investment programs which includes, but not limited to, scholarships, on-the-job training and residency programs, partnerships with local training institutions, and a commitment to hiring diverse staff, rounded out the session.
At the close of the event, the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project was awarded HIP’s Community Impact Award, presented by Jonathan Engleman, District Representative Office of Senator John Laird, and Dominic Dursa, District Director Office of Assemblymember Robert Rivas, in acknowledgment of their success in purchasing Watsonville Community Hospital.
Watch the forum
