Latest / Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast / Building Stronger Healthcare Workforce Pathways Through Community Partnerships with Dan LaVallee & Dr. Brandy Hershberger

Transcript

Building Stronger Healthcare Workforce Pathways Through Community Partnerships with Dan LaVallee & Dr. Brandy Hershberger · Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast

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  - Hello, everyone. This is Jacob Emerson with the
• 0:53
  - Becker's Payer Issues podcast.
• 0:55
  - Thrilled today to be joined by two leaders
• 0:58
  - from UPMC.
• 0:59
  - Dan LaValle serves as associate vice president of
• 1:02
  - community engagement at UPMC health plan, and doctor
• 1:05
  - Brandy Hershberger serves as chief nursing officer and
• 1:08
  - vice president of academic affairs at UPMC.
• 1:11
  - Doctor Hirschberger, Dan, thank you so much for
• 1:14
  - taking the time to be with us today.
• 1:16
  - And doctor Hirschberger, I'll turn it over to
• 1:17
  - you first. If you could tell our audience
• 1:19
  - a little bit more about yourself, your background
• 1:21
  - in health care, and what it is that
• 1:22
  - you do today at UPMC.
• 1:26
  - Sure. So thanks so much for having us
• 1:28
  - today.
• 1:29
  - So a little bit about myself. I am
• 1:31
  - a nurse of twenty three years, a chief
• 1:33
  - nurse of eight years.
• 1:35
  - I grew up as a baby nurse at
• 1:37
  - UPMC, primarily
• 1:39
  - in emergency medicine,
• 1:41
  - and then I went to the for profit
• 1:43
  - for about seven years outside of UPMC and
• 1:46
  - came back to UPMC in 2021.
• 1:49
  - I started out as the chief nursing officer
• 1:52
  - for UPMC East and UPMC McKeesport
• 1:56
  - and then transitioned into this role in 2022.
• 1:59
  - Currently in this role, I am responsible
• 2:02
  - for the nursing and allied health pipelining, building
• 2:05
  - our pipelines
• 2:06
  - to gain a stronger workforce.
• 2:08
  - Additionally, I oversee
• 2:10
  - our eight UPMC proprietary
• 2:12
  - schools of nursing along with our 11 UPMC
• 2:16
  - allied health schools
• 2:18
  - that are UPMC
• 2:19
  - owned and operated.
• 2:20
  - And then additionally,
• 2:22
  - just maintaining
• 2:23
  - our academic partnerships
• 2:25
  - and really ensuring
• 2:27
  - all of our students have a great clinical
• 2:29
  - experience when they come to UPMC.
• 2:31
  - So thanks so much for having us today.
• 2:34
  - Wonderful. Thanks, Brandy. How about you, Dan?
• 2:37
  - Oh, thanks, Jacob, for having us. Brandy, you
• 2:38
  - are wonderful. It's always fun to do this,
• 2:40
  - you know, with you. I'm Dan LaValle. I,
• 2:43
  - I'm a I'm a native Yenser as we
• 2:45
  - say. My my grandmother had a a bakery
• 2:47
  - on the University of Pittsburgh's campus for about
• 2:50
  - sixty years. And,
• 2:51
  - you know, probably fortunately for the community, I
• 2:53
  - don't have those baking skills. I watched her
• 2:55
  - make an incredible difference in the community, but
• 2:57
  - I chose,
• 2:58
  - health care. And I've been, at UPMC for
• 3:01
  - the last twelve years.
• 3:02
  - I lead our community engagement team,
• 3:05
  - on the health plan side of UPMC, which
• 3:07
  - includes a wonderful team that meets people where
• 3:09
  - they are every single day and high rises
• 3:11
  - out in the community and also builds,
• 3:13
  - signature community programs that we call it, like
• 3:16
  - our pathways to work program, which we'll talk
• 3:18
  - about today. We have two neighborhood centers that
• 3:21
  - function as, partnership, community centers,
• 3:24
  - in Pittsburgh and Eery as well, although we
• 3:25
  - do a lot of this work, and it's
• 3:27
  - just so meaningful to me. So it's great
• 3:28
  - to be here.
• 3:29
  - I love it. A legacy family thing for
• 3:32
  - you, Dan, of community engagement in some way,
• 3:34
  - shape, or form.
• 3:36
  - Always. And my great grandfather was actually a
• 3:39
  - baking apprentice when he came here from Germany.
• 3:41
  - So it's full circle. We're talking about apprenticeship.
• 3:43
  - That's awesome. I didn't know that, Dan. I
• 3:46
  - was a new I should have shared that
• 3:47
  - before. It's wonderful.
• 3:49
  - That's awesome. Well, appreciate you both taking the
• 3:51
  - time to chat with us today.
• 3:53
  - Staying on the the lines of community engagement,
• 3:56
  - Dan, and all the work that you, your
• 3:57
  - teams, everybody at UPMC is doing. Talk to
• 4:00
  - us a little bit about the latest on
• 4:01
  - workforce development.
• 4:03
  - I know the the health system, the health
• 4:05
  - plan has a lot of different
• 4:06
  - initiatives here and progress
• 4:09
  - to talk about, in this space. UPMC health
• 4:12
  - plan specifically has achieved,
• 4:14
  - lasting assistance for those on Medicaid to find
• 4:17
  - meaningful careers within the broader health system.
• 4:19
  - For our audience who might not be familiar,
• 4:21
  - give us some of the details there, and
• 4:22
  - what's the latest progress?
• 4:24
  - Thanks so much, Jacob. It it has been
• 4:26
  - an incredible year. We just passed our eleven
• 4:29
  - thousandth person,
• 4:30
  - hired off our UPMC for you Medicaid plan
• 4:33
  - into UPMC with leaders like Brandy.
• 4:36
  - I I just can't even imagine how wonderful
• 4:38
  - this has been over these past seven years.
• 4:40
  - We started our Pathways to Work program that
• 4:42
  - we called it, in partnership with our State
• 4:45
  - Department of Human Services about seven years ago
• 4:47
  - when they had asked us to help, you
• 4:48
  - know, our Medicaid members find work if they
• 4:50
  - were interested.
• 4:51
  - And it really, you know, built into a
• 4:53
  - program that I couldn't even imagine to back
• 4:55
  - in in 2019. We went through the pandemic,
• 4:57
  - of course, when one in three of our
• 4:59
  - neighbors were, you know, filing jobless claims, but
• 5:01
  - we still needed,
• 5:02
  - leaders in our hospitals and community to care
• 5:05
  - for those that were sick at that time.
• 5:06
  - And even as the pandemic, you know, ended,
• 5:09
  - the need in the community to help individuals
• 5:11
  - find life changing careers did not go away.
• 5:13
  - And it's just been, you know, incredibly beautiful.
• 5:15
  - We really started the program off with trying
• 5:18
  - to provide individuals
• 5:20
  - who were work ready and had skills into
• 5:22
  - careers at UPMC, whether they were in nursing
• 5:25
  - with Brandy or I'm calling on the phone
• 5:27
  - to make sure people had the coverage and
• 5:29
  - the and the medical,
• 5:30
  - you know, information and supplies that they would
• 5:32
  - need, especially during those challenging times. But then
• 5:34
  - what it did is it kinda taught us,
• 5:36
  - you know, that, of course, we can support
• 5:38
  - individuals in finding a career they might be
• 5:40
  - ready for, but it was also an opportunity
• 5:42
  - to build new training programs
• 5:44
  - and get into new sector apprenticeships as, Governor
• 5:47
  - Shapiro and, Labor Secretary Walker here in Pennsylvania,
• 5:50
  - you know, have called it, and that has
• 5:52
  - really changed the game for us. Brandy will
• 5:53
  - go through all the wonderful work that she's
• 5:56
  - leading on apprentice on apprenticeships.
• 5:58
  - And I think that the most beautiful thing
• 5:59
  - is, you know, I'm I remember growing up
• 6:01
  - here, you know, as a as a young
• 6:02
  - child watching, you know, how Western Pennsylvania became
• 6:06
  - a place to build national models to care
• 6:08
  - for our communities, whether it's the Children's Health
• 6:10
  - Insurance program or other, you know, programs. We
• 6:13
  - feel like we have that now too with
• 6:15
  - workforce development for those, you know, who who
• 6:17
  - really need it. So, you know, I was
• 6:19
  - looking at a story this morning, Jacob, from
• 6:21
  - one of our team members who was,
• 6:23
  - you know, sharing that, you know, we have
• 6:25
  - them share every Monday, you know, stories that
• 6:27
  - they have from the past week. And, you
• 6:29
  - know, one that really struck me was an
• 6:30
  - individual that, you know, was homeless and, you
• 6:32
  - know, was struggling and but had skills and
• 6:35
  - just fallen on hard times,
• 6:37
  - and was able to get into a career
• 6:38
  - at UPMC, but had expressed an interest in
• 6:41
  - joining an apprenticeship down the road, which I
• 6:43
  - now I know the game has changed because,
• 6:45
  - you know, we've gotten to that point. So,
• 6:47
  - it's just so wonderful.
• 6:49
  - Shout out to our incredible
• 6:50
  - folks on the facility side. They started our
• 6:52
  - first apprenticeship. It's called a facilities maintenance technician.
• 6:56
  - Kelly Noll, our leader on that side, was
• 6:57
  - so wonderful. And that success
• 7:00
  - allowed us to work together to build all
• 7:02
  - these new programs that Brandy has, and she's
• 7:04
  - just the the the best leader and someone
• 7:06
  - I look up to very much. And, you
• 7:07
  - know, we're we're having a good day in
• 7:09
  - the neighborhood as we say here in Pittsburgh.
• 7:11
  - And and that story you just shared there,
• 7:13
  - Dan, that that singular story, one of 11,000
• 7:16
  - out there now,
• 7:18
  - that that is all comes back to UPMC
• 7:20
  - and your pathways to work program. It's amazing.
• 7:22
  - Just just the human story, but also the
• 7:24
  - scale here that you're talking about.
• 7:27
  - You you teed Brandy up in terms of
• 7:29
  - all the different health care apprenticeships
• 7:31
  - that are available across the system.
• 7:33
  - Brandy, do you wanna talk a little bit
• 7:35
  - about that? What's available today?
• 7:37
  - And then how you see this all trickling
• 7:38
  - down? How this all helps address the workforce
• 7:41
  - challenges, not just locally, but how you think
• 7:44
  - other systems across the country can really learn
• 7:46
  - from UPMC and scale this in their markets
• 7:48
  - as well?
• 7:50
  - Sure. Absolutely.
• 7:51
  - I think that the majority of people are
• 7:53
  - used to apprenticeships
• 7:54
  - being in, like, electrician
• 7:56
  - or, you know, facilities and so forth.
• 7:59
  - Well, we were innovative and we wanted to
• 8:01
  - bridge this into the healthcare apprenticeships.
• 8:04
  - And last year, we were able to get
• 8:06
  - approved,
• 8:07
  - the first in Pennsylvania,
• 8:09
  - an R and R or registered nurse resident
• 8:13
  - or an LPN to RN
• 8:15
  - apprentice. So we currently
• 8:17
  - are running,
• 8:18
  - with that apprentice currently at our UPMC Schools
• 8:21
  - of Nursing located in Erie, Pennsylvania.
• 8:24
  - Additionally, we were able to get our surgical
• 8:27
  - tech apprenticeship
• 8:29
  - approved along with pharmacy technician
• 8:32
  - apprenticeships
• 8:33
  - and
• 8:34
  - our imaging or diagnostic
• 8:36
  - tech apprenticeship
• 8:38
  - approved. Now these apprenticeships,
• 8:40
  - they help individuals
• 8:42
  - who never thought healthcare
• 8:44
  - was a career that was possible.
• 8:47
  - And they gain valuable related technical instruction
• 8:51
  - or on the job training,
• 8:53
  - along with their academics
• 8:56
  - that really train them to take their certification
• 8:59
  - or licensure
• 9:00
  - exam at the end
• 9:02
  - and they learn and they're actually mentored by
• 9:05
  - the experts
• 9:06
  - in our healthcare
• 9:08
  - arena today.
• 9:09
  - And they're guaranteed employment,
• 9:12
  - along which helps them to fill those key
• 9:14
  - positions in our workforce
• 9:16
  - that we so need to provide access to
• 9:19
  - our patients and quality of care. And these
• 9:22
  - were instrumental
• 9:23
  - across the board to give opportunities,
• 9:26
  - to our folks out there.
• 9:28
  - Absolutely. And it sounds like this really does
• 9:30
  - span the whole gamut of of possibilities in
• 9:32
  - terms of employment. It's not just clinical, but
• 9:34
  - you mentioned electrical work even, Brandy. It's it's
• 9:37
  - fascinating. Exactly.
• 9:39
  - Dan, what else is out there for you
• 9:40
  - all in terms of workforce development training efforts
• 9:43
  - beyond the apprenticeships, and what's coming next? Give
• 9:46
  - give the audience
• 9:47
  - a little bit of a teaser in terms
• 9:49
  - of plans to expand your efforts here. Oh,
• 9:51
  - yeah. Jacob, thank you for that. And it
• 9:53
  - is, you know, it's beautiful. We have been
• 9:55
  - able to expand our overall pathways to work
• 9:57
  - for across the Commonwealth. So anybody who has
• 10:00
  - any type of barrier to work, no matter
• 10:01
  - what it is, can reach out to our
• 10:03
  - exceptional team, and they'll help them through, hopefully,
• 10:06
  - a career at UPMC, but we also have
• 10:07
  - many other, you know, partners that do that
• 10:09
  - work. So that has been tremendously exciting as
• 10:12
  - we look to serve the entirety of the
• 10:14
  - Commonwealth. But what's coming up next is related
• 10:16
  - to a milestone that we just had, actually,
• 10:18
  - which is beautiful. So we had, relaunched a
• 10:21
  - program that we call Freedom House two point
• 10:23
  - o, and you all might, know a little
• 10:25
  - bit about Freedom House. It's been on, multiple
• 10:27
  - episodes of recent, TV series and,
• 10:30
  - had an Emmy winning documentary. It was about
• 10:32
  - the beginning of emergency medical service in this
• 10:35
  - country in the sixties that happened right here
• 10:38
  - in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh to
• 10:40
  - help serve communities that were underserved that really
• 10:43
  - had no emergency service there, you know, at
• 10:45
  - any time. And it, you know, of course,
• 10:47
  - came into what, you know, we all know
• 10:48
  - is the model across the country to serve,
• 10:50
  - you know, those in need. And, you know,
• 10:52
  - it's it's how EMS was built across the
• 10:54
  - country. But we really realized we had a
• 10:56
  - a need here, you know, in Western Pennsylvania
• 10:58
  - and across the Commonwealth to train people in
• 11:00
  - preemployment,
• 11:01
  - trauma informed,
• 11:03
  - six week program that was beautiful to get
• 11:05
  - individuals into high need careers that we had.
• 11:07
  - We just reached our five year anniversary of
• 11:10
  - relaunching that program. I was so special at
• 11:13
  - the the last graduation to have one of
• 11:14
  - the original
• 11:16
  - members of Freedom House in the sixties join,
• 11:18
  - you know, and talk to the graduates and
• 11:20
  - share quite a bit about that.
• 11:22
  - And so we're continuing to expand that program.
• 11:24
  - And the best part is that we're launching
• 11:26
  - and we just launched an EMT apprenticeship program
• 11:30
  - based on that model. So that will, of
• 11:32
  - course, serve those that would become EMTs within
• 11:34
  - UPMC.
• 11:35
  - But the best part about apprenticeships,
• 11:37
  - Jacob, is that if you if you if
• 11:39
  - you build them and you get them registered
• 11:41
  - like like Brandy talked about, they can be
• 11:43
  - replicated
• 11:44
  - across other organizations and training providers across the
• 11:47
  - Commonwealth. And I think that's why, you know,
• 11:49
  - secretary Walker in particular has been, you know,
• 11:51
  - such a a great partner in helping us
• 11:53
  - push this because we can start this year
• 11:55
  - and then work with, you know, other systems
• 11:58
  - and training partners, you know, to do this
• 12:00
  - work. So we're really excited and, you know,
• 12:01
  - all of Brandy's work is gonna continue to
• 12:03
  - expand, not just here, but across the country.
• 12:06
  - It's a perfect segue that the the the
• 12:08
  - replicability of the these these models across the
• 12:11
  - country. Can you speak to that for the
• 12:13
  - audience listening in,
• 12:15
  - wanting to replicate the work that UPMC is
• 12:17
  - already doing on the ground?
• 12:19
  - How can they also have their their educational
• 12:22
  - institutions
• 12:23
  - strengthen the local workforce pipelines like you all
• 12:26
  - have? No. Of course, Jacob. And it was
• 12:28
  - something that was certainly new to me. I
• 12:29
  - had to learn it's taken Brandy and I
• 12:31
  - years to to get this down. I think
• 12:33
  - we're there. Because here's the deal. No matter
• 12:36
  - where you are across our wonderful country, you
• 12:38
  - are in a place that has a workforce
• 12:40
  - investment board. Every single county in America has
• 12:43
  - that. And they are the place where employers
• 12:46
  - like us, also Medicaid plans who are looking
• 12:48
  - to help our members find work, and then
• 12:50
  - educational
• 12:51
  - institutions can go to build training programs that
• 12:54
  - can be then invested in with federal or
• 12:57
  - state dollars or private dollars. And what they
• 12:59
  - taught us is that, you know, especially here
• 13:01
  - in Pennsylvania too, if you can build a
• 13:03
  - program like our Freedom House two point o,
• 13:05
  - which was not apprenticeship but led to it,
• 13:07
  - of course, that there are dollars there that
• 13:10
  - if you blend and braid the funds together,
• 13:12
  - that can be put into these programs no
• 13:14
  - matter where you are. And I think that's
• 13:15
  - the best thing. So anyone out here, you
• 13:17
  - know, interested in building a program like this,
• 13:19
  - whether it's an apprenticeship or a preemployment training
• 13:22
  - program, find your workforce investment board in the
• 13:25
  - county that you're in, and they'll help you
• 13:26
  - see how this can be replicated and done.
• 13:28
  - And I think the best part is that
• 13:30
  - we have collaborations
• 13:32
  - with, you know, other hospital systems, other payers,
• 13:35
  - other, you know, educational programs across the country
• 13:38
  - because we all learn better together, and we're
• 13:40
  - just so,
• 13:41
  - excited, you know, to lead in that way.
• 13:43
  - And, of course, we've had our challenges with
• 13:45
  - it, you know, and we're open about that.
• 13:47
  - But that's the best thing, and that's how
• 13:48
  - you can scale these programs, you know, and
• 13:50
  - really, you know, turn them into national models.
• 13:53
  - Brandy, anything you'd add there? Advice for other
• 13:55
  - leaders listening in on how to continue to
• 13:57
  - expand models like these?
• 14:00
  - Yeah. Dan's spot on. Partnership with our workforce
• 14:03
  - boards are essential.
• 14:05
  - And then, you know, with our institutions,
• 14:07
  - our middle and high schools, our other healthcare
• 14:10
  - arenas in our community,
• 14:13
  - we have to be on this venture together
• 14:16
  - because
• 14:17
  - we're all facing the same workforce challenges, so
• 14:20
  - we have to come together to have the
• 14:22
  - same common goal
• 14:23
  - to implement
• 14:24
  - things such as apprenticeships
• 14:26
  - in our communities to provide sustainable workforce in
• 14:30
  - the state of Pennsylvania.
• 14:32
  - And it's essential, like we are really opening
• 14:34
  - up the doors for our middle and high
• 14:36
  - school students and partnering
• 14:38
  - with our high school and middle schools to
• 14:41
  - come in to have immersive
• 14:43
  - experiences.
• 14:44
  - And we have several.
• 14:46
  - So Baldwin High School comes into UPMC McGee,
• 14:49
  - they experience
• 14:50
  - every level because
• 14:53
  - for a student, they always hear about nursing
• 14:55
  - and physician. I wanna be a nurse or
• 14:57
  - I wanna be physician,
• 14:59
  - but news flash, not everybody does,
• 15:02
  - but we have so many multitudes
• 15:04
  - of positions
• 15:06
  - that students get to explore and say, yes,
• 15:09
  - I wanna be an imaging techs,
• 15:11
  - a tech. I want to be a surgical
• 15:13
  - tech. I want to do this. So there
• 15:16
  - are so many
• 15:17
  - avenues behind the scenes, even non patient facing,
• 15:21
  - such as finance, human resources, the health plan,
• 15:24
  - that we can show them, allow them to
• 15:27
  - shadow an experience.
• 15:29
  - And some will say, it's for me or
• 15:31
  - some will say, no, it's not for me.
• 15:33
  - But that is that partnership that we
• 15:36
  - need to have that essential for our young
• 15:38
  - to grow and to progress into careers,
• 15:41
  - that they wanna be into.
• 15:43
  - Absolutely. No. It's a great reminder there and
• 15:45
  - and great bits of advice from you both.
• 15:48
  - Before we go, what else are we missing?
• 15:50
  - Any other details?
• 15:52
  - Last little bits you wanna add in for
• 15:54
  - the audience today. Brandy, you wanna start us
• 15:56
  - off?
• 15:57
  - I will say,
• 15:59
  - fortunately,
• 16:00
  - all of our apprenticeships
• 16:02
  - have been filled thus far because we've had
• 16:05
  - a huge interest and that's the good part.
• 16:07
  - But stay tuned
• 16:09
  - because if you're interested in any one of
• 16:11
  - our health care apprenticeships,
• 16:13
  - they will be available
• 16:14
  - in the year to come
• 16:16
  - on upmccareers.com,
• 16:19
  - and it will have that apprentice
• 16:21
  - right there in the job category so that
• 16:24
  - you can apply.
• 16:25
  - But I'm hoping people listening to this today
• 16:29
  - will take these apprenticeships
• 16:31
  - as soon as we have outcomes, and you
• 16:33
  - can run with it. You can run with
• 16:36
  - it, and you can build your own apprenticeships
• 16:39
  - in health care
• 16:40
  - that can help feed your workforce and create
• 16:43
  - meaningful careers for our community.
• 16:46
  - You know, Brandy and Jacob, as I was
• 16:47
  - listening to you there, Brandy, you know, I
• 16:49
  - I think the most beautiful thing is I
• 16:51
  - think about a couple individuals I know who
• 16:53
  - are in our apprenticeships and have gone through,
• 16:55
  - you know. You have people that we, of
• 16:57
  - course, they were on our Medicaid plan, part
• 16:59
  - of our family that we call it at
• 17:01
  - UPMC already. And then going through a training
• 17:04
  - program, becoming a nurse, becoming an imaging tech.
• 17:07
  - When Brandy explained, you know, that incredible career
• 17:09
  - to me and how you can start at
• 17:10
  - a younger age, get some credits, go have
• 17:13
  - very minimal debt, and be making a difference
• 17:16
  - in our communities. And I think what is
• 17:18
  - so beautiful, you know, someone who might have
• 17:20
  - been on Medicaid, had a challenge and buried
• 17:21
  - her work, you know, gets through these programs
• 17:23
  - and then is serving the very community
• 17:26
  - that they grew up in, you know, I
• 17:27
  - there's nothing greater in in my mind, you
• 17:30
  - know, than that. And that's that's who we
• 17:32
  - are at UPMC. That's our mission. That's how
• 17:34
  - we wanna show up, and we'll continue to
• 17:36
  - do this and highlight this so that, others
• 17:38
  - can,
• 17:39
  - see. And hopefully, we can, you know, have
• 17:41
  - this as a national model to support our
• 17:42
  - communities that makes us all stronger.
• 17:44
  - And, Jacob, if I can just add one
• 17:46
  - other thing, we have actually a second career
• 17:50
  - who is going into our farm tech apprentice
• 17:53
  - that wants to try something different. So it
• 17:55
  - doesn't matter what age you are
• 17:58
  - and you want a different career choice,
• 18:01
  - apprenticeship
• 18:01
  - is the way to go.
• 18:03
  - Yeah. That's a great last point there, Brandy.
• 18:05
  - Appreciate that hook on. Thank you both so
• 18:07
  - much. Please keep us updated on the expansion
• 18:10
  - of Freedom House, how everything goes with the
• 18:12
  - EMT apprenticeship. We'd love to hear the progress
• 18:15
  - there and and what you achieve.
• 18:17
  - But thank you both so much for taking
• 18:19
  - the time and for sharing your expertise
• 18:21
  - with our audience. We really appreciate it. If
• 18:24
  - you'd like to listen to more podcast from
• 18:25
  - Becker's Healthcare, you can visit beckershospitalreview.com.