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About Us

Many Maine communities face critical shortages of health care professionals such as dentists, mental health providers, nurses, pharmacists, primary care doctors and home care workers.

The Health Workforce Forum was established to coordinate the information and stakeholders needed to assess current and projected shortages in a number of health occupations and to make policy recommendations. Participants include representatives of health professional associations, licensing boards, employers, education programs, Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maine Department of Labor (see Member page for full list).

The Forum meets regularly to review health workforce information, to draft recommendations based on its analysis, and to provide leadership and support for health workforce development initiatives in the state. Meeting information and reports are submitted to the Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control/Office of Public Health and shared with the Department of Health and Human Services and the State Health Plan Advisory Council on Health Systems Development

Background:

The Forum was established in 2005 by the 122nd Maine Legislature and Governor's approval of L.D. 892 "An Act To Ensure an Adequate Supply of a Skilled Health Care Workforce" and the enactment of Public Law Chapter 327. The law established the Health Occupations Report, to be compiled by the Department of Labor, in conjunction with the Office of Health Data and Program Management's Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics, and the Health Workforce Forum, a representative group of stakeholders to review the report and submit recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Maine CDC, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care convened the Forum in 2007 to review Maine’s first Health Occupations Report. Preliminary recommendations were drafted and the Forum was reconvened in 2008 to renew its commitment to address workforce issues and to establish a plan for addressing them. Through discussions and based on the extensive involvement of members in the state’s health workforce issues the group developed a more comprehensive definition of the role, membership, purpose and process for the Forum. The major themes for the Forum’s work include: Leadership, Data, Collaboration, Planning Strategy, and Communications.

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