Behavioral health leaders nationwide are exploring new strategies to recruit and retain staff after the pandemic sharply reduced workforce numbers. From loan repayment to career development, systems are rebuilding their teams from the inside out, aiming to retain talented clinicians and attract new ones.
For leaders, the message is clear: Clinician well-being must be treated not only as a moral imperative, but also as a strategic one.
“If the workforce successfully provides what a patient needs from our health systems, they must be at their personal best. That takes the purposefulness of the staff and support from the system,” Becky Stoll, senior vice president of crisis services at Centerstone in Nashville, Tenn. told Becker’s.
Several systems are investing in peer support programs to address emotional distress and burnout — a proactive way of building resilience in the behavioral health workforce.
At Renton, Wash.-based Providence, the system’s Well-Being Trust launched a peer support program for physicians and advanced practitioners. The program connects staff with peer volunteers who offer support following unexpected medical outcomes.
Cleveland Clinic has also implemented multiple layers of staff support, according to Leopoldo Pozuelo, MD, center director of adult behavioral health. Its Caring for Caregivers program employs more than 20 therapists dedicated to staff, and the Emerge Stronger program offers confidential, one-on-one support after traumatic clinical events.
Other systems are addressing clinician well-being through financial stability. A key component of work-life balance, leaders say, is the ability to manage or eliminate student debt.
New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals offers a three-year service obligation with loan repayment for all staff, including nurses and psychiatrists. Before each award cycle, the system analyzes workforce data to prioritize roles with vacancy rates.
“The three-year inflection point, based on our historical workforce data, represents a really key turning point, and whether a staff member is going to stay at [NYC Health + Hospitals] or move on to another opportunity. So that three-year service obligation was really designed with that data point in mind,” Sophie Pauze, senior director strategy and impact, said.
Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham launched a three-year grant to support incumbent staff pursuing careers in mental health. A key focus is expanding workforce capacity through training and education programs.
“It’s the way that we compensate them, and it’s the way in which we balance their autonomy while providing them with the support that is necessary to be successful,” Bernard Jones, vice president for behavioral and mental health and the department of psychiatry, said.
The system has expanded key pipeline initiatives, including a post-baccalaureate clinical fellowship founded at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. The initiative offers hands-on mental health experience, focused on clinical care, research and training.
Ames, Iowa-based Mary Greeley Medical Center is also cultivating talent from within. Many team members begin their careers as psychiatric assistants and receive tuition assistance for nursing, social work and psychiatric nurse practitioner programs, Christina Mayfield, director of behavioral health services, told Becker’s.
The center has also expanded its education commitment by “welcoming more students than ever and hiring interns to take on important projects that might otherwise go untouched,” she said.
