Kentucky Healthcare Workforce Collaborative

Kentucky's Healthcare Workforce Collaborative (HWC) is a $10 million initiative funded by the legislature to bring together state leaders, policy experts, campus leadership and the health care industry to solve Kentucky's health care crisis.

The appropriation, designated in the 2022 budget bill and to be administered by the Council, will serve several purposes:

• Providing direct grants to Kentucky's public institutions.
• Funding administrative, research, consulting, planning and analysis costs for an advisory group.
• Raising student awareness of and interest in healthcare occupations.
• Improving pathways between high school career and technical programs to college-level health care programs.
• Helping health care organizations support career growth and development for their employees.

The HWC, made up of CPE staff, policy experts, state leaders and representatives from the campuses and health care industry, guides distribution of the funds. 

Guiding Legislation and Documentation 

Healthcare Workforce Collaborative 

• Kentucky 2022-23 budget bill (22 RS HB 1) - See page 124 

• Healthcare Workforce Collaborative overview document 

• Frequently asked questions about the grants 

HWC Advisory Group 

To increase success of the HWC's efforts, the Council convenes an HWC Advisory Group. This group, consisting of college faculty, state leaders and members of the health care sector, will devise short-term and long-term strategies to strengthen the workforce pipeline. Beyond facilitating important conversations between campuses and the health care industry,  the HWC Advisory Group also reviews the effectiveness of current campus- and state-level programs to assist HWC decision-making.  

CLIMB Health

The Career Ladders in Mental and Behavioral Health (CLIMB-Health) is an HWC initiative focused on creating postsecondary pathways at KCTCS for individuals in recovery/reentry seeking entry-level employment as peer specialists. These include:

• Lived experience career pathways.
• Peer specialist training.
• Workforce development for mental and behavioral health employers.
• Professional development for incumbent peer specialists. 

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