The Suite of Solutions: Transforming Healthcare Across our Region for Generations to Come
UnityPoint Health – Meriter's ambitious Healthcare Workforce Initiative involves a suite of creative solutions expertly designed to address the complex healthcare concerns facing our community—both emerging and immediate.Your gift—of any amount—will bring our community closer to ensuring no patient is ever turned away from the care they need.
A HEALTHY COMMUNITY FOR EVERYONE is the heart of this campaign.
DIVERSIFY our healthcare workforce.
A system that helps the most marginalized, and is built to include everyone, has the effect of improving care for all parties and populations. Approaching this work through an equity lens is foundational; it is a guiding principle, integral to every action and initiative, now and into the future.
We will work to develop future generations of healthcare professionals from a diverse range of
backgrounds, cultures and lived experiences, thus building a workforce that is best equipped to advocate for all patients and address health inequities.
We will work to develop future generations of healthcare professionals from a diverse range of
backgrounds, cultures and lived experiences, thus building a workforce that is best equipped to advocate for all patients and address health inequities.
EXPAND the talent pool, commensurate with increasing patient volumes.
By increasing access to healthcare education and training we will boost the number of individuals pursuing—and advancing in—the field of healthcare.
- Bolster the clinical educator ranks through loan forgiveness and fellowships for clinical instructors, addressing the clinical/ instructor wage gap and more.
- Increase overall numbers of students earning nursing degrees by providing scholarships and loan forgiveness to nursing students who accept employment offers at Meriter.
- Expand the Pathways Programs offered at UnityPoint Health – Meriter by creating a Pathways Coordinator position to address barriers to advancement among team members and community members from historically marginalized populations, collaborating with community partners, supporting students through scholarships and loan forgiveness.
ACCELERATE getting new care team members to the patient bedside.
Newly hired and newly licensed caregivers are eager to begin their journeys as healthcare professionals. By streamlining the onboarding and team member training process, we will get new hospital and clinic team members to the patients who need them faster.
- Renovate an existing Meriter property to create a healthcare education hub that allows for training a greater number of team members at one time and streamlines the new employee orientation by providing all onboarding steps in one location.
ADVANCE team members through career support and growth opportunities.
Clinical longevity is crucial to positive patient outcomes. We will advance and cultivate our own—with specific opportunities for team members from historically marginalized communities (i.e. people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ and/or disability communities)—ensuring every patient is treated by skilled, tenured caregivers.
- Provide healthcare career and advancement opportunities to entry-level employees through Pathways Program enrollment (strongly encouraged for team members from historically marginalized communities) and scholarships.
- Improve advancement and leadership opportunities within nursing, particularly among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) team members, through scholarships, loan forgiveness, paid support for advanced nursing certification through preparatory courses and more.
