Leading the Health Care Workforce Through Change: Leadership, Policy, and Innovation in Action

On Sept. 17, human resources (HR) and employee relations leaders from seven essential hospitals gathered in Washington, D.C., for "Leading the Health Care Workforce Through Change: Leadership, Policy, and Innovation in Action." Hosted by America's Essential Hospitals and Essential Hospitals Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the convening focused on strategies for strengthening employee engagement and retention, growing relationships with employees and community partners, and expanding recruitment for high-turnover positions. It was a valuable day of learning, collaboration, and sharing ideas to build workforce resiliency at essential hospitals. 

The Calling Behind the Care: Leadership Strategies to Inspire and Retain Health Care Staff

Christopher Cullom, MBA, MSHA, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Carilion Clinic, in Roanoke, Va., shared leadership practices to connect health care teams to purpose and retain staff. He emphasized that staff retention and engagement are driven not by one-off engagement initiatives but by how leaders show up daily.

Thus, leaders must create a workplace culture that makes employees feel heard, valued, and supported. Building authentic relationships before problems arise, seeing employees as people first, and being transparent about big and small decisions helps strengthen trust, particularly with individuals who resist organizational change.

Cullom shared the "Listen-Connect-Act" framework for introducing and adopting new initiatives:

• Listen: Give employees opportunities to voice their perspectives, genuinely hear them, and close the loop with timely follow-up. Listening without follow-through can discourage future engagement.
• Connect: Make the organization's mission personally meaningful to staff by helping them understand how their work contributes to carrying out the organization's purpose.
• Act: Move from discussion to action and involve employees in implementing and owning change.

"People don't connect to mission statements; they connect to what the mission means to them." - Christopher Cullom, MBA, MSHA, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Carilion Clinic

Attendees were encouraged to evaluate how they support staff at all levels, including middle managers and leaders. Cullom emphasized providing training, resources, mentorship, and opportunities for front-line supervisors and department managers to develop their leadership skills. When leaders feel valued and supported, they can better support their own teams, live out the organization's mission, and encourage retention.

How HR is Addressing Talent Shortages and Improving the Health Care Pipeline

Ian Barrett, EdD, MBA, executive vice president and chief people officer of Kaleida Health, in Buffalo, N.Y., shared a case study on the Western New York Healthcare Workforce Development Consortium. Designed to mitigate the health care workforce shortage, the consortium moves from organization-specific solutions to a cross-sector workforce infrastructure that trains, prepares, and hires talent from the area to work in the area.

The consortium convenes leaders from over 40 organizations and sectors, including educators, workforce organizations, labor unions, government and funders, community partners, and health care employers. Together, they identify cracks in the talent pipeline, break down barriers to employment, and build infrastructure for long-term talent development. Key priorities include expanding training opportunities for high-vacancy positions; growing awareness of nontraditional health care roles; and mitigating employment barriers beyond education and credentials, such as transportation, childcare, legal, and financial challenges. Since its launch in March 2026, the consortium has built a foundation for collaborative, long-term impact by identifying priority roles and defining shared outcomes and measures to improve the talent pipeline.

Attendees were prompted to contemplate workforce challenges that are too complex to solve independently and consider local stakeholders they can engage to create change within the next six months.

Impact of Financial Constraints on Workforce and Patient Care

Attendees discussed how the funding cuts associated with H.R. 1's implementation affect their organizations' workforces and how they are responding. They emphasized the need for accessible, state-specific resources to educate patients and the community about upcoming changes.

Some members host lunch-and-learn meetings to educate staff about how to communicate upcoming changes to patients. Attendees discussed ideas for staff education and engagement, including advocacy days and educational sessions with government affairs officers. Throughout, they emphasized the value of centering real-life stories and experiences in advocacy efforts.

Beyond the Tech: HR Strategies for Communicating and Implementing AI Change

Barrett and Steven Baines, founder and CEO of Elevate, led guided exercises on leadership and communication strategies for navigating AI implementation. They emphasized that AI adoption is an enterprise-wide effort that requires organizations to evolve alongside the technological landscape.

Attendees discussed three case studies following a fictional hospital's AI implementation change management strategy. They examined strategies for leadership disagreements, top-down pressures, organizational fragmentation, and misaligned views on outcomes. The session concluded with a discussion on practical approaches to creating shared accountability in change management.

Conclusion

The convening provided an important opportunity to learn, collaborate, and strengthen attendees' organizational workforce strategies. Attendees learned how to build meaningful relationships with employees and community partners to foster retention and increase the candidate pool for high-turnover positions. Many attendees are interested in learning how to partner with internal departments to communicate about AI integration into people-centered processes.

To learn more, join the last Workforce Interest Group meeting on Nov. 18, and read our related work on workforce development and resilience:

• Building Workforce Equity at Essential Hospitals: A Toolkit for Creating and Maintaining a Resilient, Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Workforce
• Scaling What Works: System Solutions for Workforce Retention and Staff Development at Essential Hospitals
• Leading through Disruption: How Health Care Leaders Can Respond in Challenging Times
• Burnout and Workforce Shortages: Essential Hospitals Face Challenges
• Protect and Strengthen the Health Care Workforce
• Strengthening Resilience of and Developing the Essential Hospital Workforce