kf | NC AHEC

Last updated September 20, 2022 at 12:40 p.m.

In March 2021, NC AHEC released the Pandemic Health Care Workforce Study at the direction of the North Carolina General Assembly. The study details the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health care workforce and health care delivery across the state and recommends strategies for better addressing the current pandemic and to better prepare for future health crises. Click here to view the study.

Ensuring an adequate and appropriately trained workforce in hospitals, health systems, and practices is an essential component of preparation for and management of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To support that work, the NC AHEC Program has prepared a new resource for COVID-19 Surge Planning. The COVID-19 Preparedness Checklists, Planning Considerations for Acute Care and Long-term Care Populations and Planning Considerations for Home-Based Care Populations, are high-level overviews of guidelines for organizations to consider as they prepare clinical spaces, workforce skills, and patient care supplies for an increase in patient volume in the wake of COVID-19. The CDC has released guidance on preparations for COVID-19 in outpatient and ambulatory care settings.

To specifically support workforce planning to meet the surge demands for distinct patient care populations, the overview is accompanied with a series of other guidelines, or playbooks, that match strategies for maximizing skill utilization with appropriate resources for training, cross-training, and retraining workers.

At each Basecamp link, there is a download button at the bottom of the page that converts the document to a PDF for viewing. These are living documents and will be updated as additional resources become available. Please send feedback and suggestions to NCAHECworkforcesurge@gmail.com.