Workforce
The Health Care program area seeks to support the work of health systems across the Carolinas through the recruitment of the future healthcare workforce and retention of the current workforce.
Challenge
The health care workforce is in a state of unprecedented crisis that threatens the financial solvency of many hospital systems and challenges their capacity to provide essential care and protect patient safety.i By 2030, the Carolinas are projected to need an additional 15,000 nurses to support the population need, compounding the already dire nursing vacancy rates.ii National statistics show 20 percent vacancy rates for nurses and other direct care staff, and a recent survey of hospital CEOs identified workforce challenges as their top priority.iii
Our Objective
Our vision is that there is a robust future workforce pipeline and that the current workforce is retained through a multifaceted approach including bolstering wellness, fostering resiliency, and creating a culture of caring in health systems across the Carolinas.
Through our grantmaking, we aim to support the retention of the current workforce, foster resiliency, and bolster the future health care workforce pipeline. We are now focused on working with our grantees to identify which programs are most effective and developing resources that will support and accelerate their replication.
What We Fund
We are focusing our funding in supporting the infrastructure of key partners in the workforce space that are implementing and evaluating workforce programs, please find their work here: NC Center on the Workforce for Health, SC Office for Healthcare Workforce, and South Carolina Hospital Association.
We selectively fund programs that advance the understanding of innovative workforce retention programs that create an environment and culture where the healthcare workforce can thrive, such as flexible scheduling models and leveraging AI to allow for clinicians to practice at the top of their license. Also, programs that support the recruitment of the future healthcare workforce such as healthcare career exposure for K‑12 students and educational opportunities for rural students. These funding requests may be submitted through the pre-application process while the pre-application cycle is open via our online application portal.
Before You Proceed
The Duke Endowment’s grant application and reporting process is powered by Blackbaud. If your organization currently uses Blackbaud, please use your existing login credentials to access the grantee portal. If your organization does not have a current Blackbaud ID, please select “create account” when prompted to login. For a step-by-step process click here.
You can access all previous and in-progress applications through the grantee portal.
