Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, (left) Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services; and Karen DeSalvo, MD, (right) Chief Health Officer at Google; will be keynote speakers at the conference. DeSalvo's discussion will be moderated by Chip Kahn, MPH, (center) President and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals.
The Shortage in Healthcare Personnel and Labor Force Issues
Projections for the future of healthcare are grim. Studies show that 1 in 5 doctors plan to exit the field within two years, and the country may see a nursing shortage of up to 450,000 registered nurses by 2025. These workforce shortages present healthcare policymakers with an imminent challenge and underscore the need for a thorough reassessment of the economics – and equity – of our national healthcare system.
To address these challenges and explore solutions, The Murphy Institute’s Center for Public Policy Research (CPPR), the Tulane School of Medicine, and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine hosted The Shortage in Healthcare Personnel and Labor Force Issues, a two-day multidisciplinary conference held at the Troubadour Hotel and Tulane Lavin-Bernick Center on March 24th and 25th, 2023. The symposium convened researchers and experts to discuss the current challenges of the healthcare workforce, including staffing shortages among physicians and nurses and the impact on patient outcomes.
The conference featured dual keynotes from two distinguished Tulane University School of Medicine alumnae — Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, and Karen DeSalvo, MD, Chief Health Officer at Google. Admiral Levine opened the conference and took questions from the audience of Tulane community members and the interested public. The afternoon concluded with a fireside chat between Karen DeSalvo and Chip Kahn, President and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals. Kahn, another Tulane alumnus, holds a Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
Day one also featured panel discussions with healthcare policy experts and a recorded video message from Senator Bill Cassidy. Day two of the symposium met on Tulane’s uptown campus and featured panel experts presenting new and unpublished research.
The CPPR Research Symposium is a two-day conference on public policy issues related to political economy, including health policy, education, public finance, and regulation. The symposium is open to members of the Tulane community and the interested public.
Sessions
Keynote
- Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services
Panel Discussion: The Physician Pipeline and Healthcare Labor Supply
- Candice Chen, George Washington University
- Michael Tutty, American Medical Association
- Alice Chen, University of Southern California
- Bianca Frogner, University of Washington
Panel Discussion: Structural Determinants of Health
- Janette Dill, University of Minnesota
- Elena Falcettoni, Federal Reserve
- Taylor B. Rogers, UCLA
- Joanne Spetz, University of California, San Francisco
Fireside Chat with Karen DeSalvo, MD and Chip Kahn
