Gov. Greg Abbott has revealed a strategy to tackle the lack of healthcare workers in Texas.
Abbott sent a letter on Thursday to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) instructing them to form a task force to examine the issue and come up with solutions, as stated in a press release.
“Texas has invested a lot in grants for training people for careers like nursing to meet healthcare needs, but we need to do more,” the letter says.
Abbott wants the task force to “create opportunities and eliminate existing obstacles” to expand healthcare programs in Texas and grow the healthcare field.
“Texas is growing the fastest in the nation, and it's crucial that we continue to expand our healthcare workforce to meet the needs of our citizens as we develop a larger, improved Texas,” the letter continued.
The task force will look into the difficulties of establishing and maintaining enough clinical rotation sites and placements and must produce a report by October 1, 2024.
In 2023, Hospital Corporation of America launched the construction of a new campus in Richardson to address the healthcare shortage, as reported in The Dallas Express.
Texas Health and Human Services projected that the demand for nurses in Texas would be met by 2024, according to a 2022 report. The healthcare industry added over 650,000 jobs nationwide in 2023, marking the swiftest growth rate seen in the United States in over three decades, according to Healthcare Dive.
