State of Montana Newsroom
What They’re Saying: Health Care Leaders Praise Gov. Gianforte’s Workforce Recruitment Program
HELENA, Mont. – Health care leaders across Montana are praising Governor Greg Gianforte’s new, innovative health care workforce recruitment program to address Montana’s long-standing health care workforce shortage, stabilize Montana’s health care system, and increase Montanans’ access to high-quality care.
The Governor’s Health Care Workforce Relocation Assistance program will help cover moving costs for eligible health care providers, including doctors and nurses, who permanently relocate to Montana and remain employed for at least twelve consecutive months.
Montana has long faced a health care workforce shortage. Due to Montana’s increasingly aging population, rapid population growth, and an aging health care workforce, the governor believes this issue requires urgent action.
Montana health care leaders welcomed the governor’s new health care workforce recruitment program:
Craig Aasved, CEO of Shodair Children’s Hospital: “Governor Gianforte’s health care initiative is really timely. We’ve had to decrease the number of patients we’re admitting to less than half our capacity due to staffing constraints. We’re routinely seeing waiting lists of 30 or more kids, and we’ve been as high as twice that in the past few months. In today’s national health care workforce environment and with our payer mix averaging about three-fourths Medicaid¸ Shodair can’t keep pace with monetary incentives for nurses and other in-demand health care workers. We’re very grateful for the Governor’s actions. They give us an important tool to help address the health care workforce shortage.”
Scott Ellner, D.O., CEO of Billings Clinic: “We thank Governor Gianforte for visiting Billings Clinic to see firsthand the challenges our workforce is facing during this pandemic. The Governor’s program to attract health care workers to Montana through a relocation package is another example of how this administration is working to support the health care workers of Montana. It will be an important tool in attracting much needed health care staff to our state to support and work alongside our dedicated and compassionate care teams, while helping to provide long-term staffing assistance to meet the ongoing needs of patients across Montana. We are grateful for this program and we look forward to the ongoing support as we continue to ensure our communities get the care they need.”
Ron Gleason, interim CEO of Liberty Medical Center: “The governor’s new recruitment program is great news for Liberty Medical Center as we work to strengthen our workforce for the long-term. As a rural hospital, we especially appreciate the administration ensuring the equitable and appropriate distribution of grants to employers that serve rural, frontier, and other health professional shortage areas.”
Rich Rasmussen, CEO of the Montana Hospital Association: “Governor Gianforte’s Health Care Workforce Relocation Assistance program is a smart strategy to attract needed talent to our growing state and keep good-paying jobs in Montana communities. For years, Montana has been navigating a growing shortage of health care workers. Today, thousands of essential health care positions remain unfilled in our state. This innovative program gives health care employers a new tool to help reduce the need for expensive, temporary contract workers while strengthening the long-term viability of Montana’s health care system.”
Rose Hughes, executive director of the Montana Health Care Association: "Our senior care facilities are experiencing a severe work force shortage, including direct care workers who play a crucial role in the well-being of those in our care. This initiative is one tool to help address a long-standing shortage of these important workers. We look forward to continuing efforts to help us recruit and retain the high-quality workforce we need and our elders deserve. Thank you for making this a priority."
Cindy Stergar, CEO of the Montana Primary Care Association: ““We are happy to have another tool in our recruitment toolchest for recruiting critical and necessary health care providers. It’s always been a challenge to bring people to rural Montana, never more so that during this public health crisis. We want to thank the governor and his team for keeping our facilities and future employees at the forefront of their efforts.”
Carley C. Robertson, M.D., president of the Montana Medical Association: “The Montana Medical Association appreciates Governor Gianforte’s steps to invest in the recruiting of highly qualified physicians and health care professionals to Montana. We applaud all creative solutions to growing Montana’s physician workforce to practice in our communities.”
Mary Windecker, executive director of the Behavioral Health Alliance of Montana: “The Behavioral Health Alliance of Montana and our workforce has been in crisis since the start of the pandemic. We are extremely grateful to Governor Gianforte and his team for developing this innovative recruitment tool to bring behavioral health providers home to Montana to work in the agencies that serve some of the most acute clients in the state.”
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