Health Care Workforce

More than 2.3 million women of reproductive age live in maternity care deserts — counties with no hospitals offering obstetric care and no OB-GYN or certified nurse-midwife in practice. More

Physician workforce shortages are limiting access to health care in nearly every state, with underserved and rural areas facing the greatest shortfalls. More

The fragmented multi-payer system in the United States creates powerful disincentives against the evidence-based interventions most likely to improve health and control costs: universal, prevention-centered care delivered where people live, work, and gather. More

One year ago in April, I walked off CDC’s campus for the last time, after spending over 20 years in the agency. More

This evidence-based framework organizes a GME growth strategy into five iterative stages: exploration, strategy development, strategy design, technical assistance, and optimization. More

The 2026 Primary Care Scorecard data show incremental, but fragile, gains in the primary care workforce and training pipeline. Financing for primary care continues to stagnate, with national spending levels largely unchanged and far below what is needed. There was considerable state variability for primary care spending and for primary care workforce density. More

Community health workers, promotores, and community health representatives have historically relied on a patchwork of grants for funding, but more than half of state Medicaid programs have now implemented some form of CHW/P/CHR coverage and payment policy. This toolkit provides model language for state Medicaid leaders and CHW/P/CHR advocates to use as they develop State Plan Amendments and accompanying guidance documents to establish coverage and payment for CHW/P/CHR services. More

This policy brief provides an overview of opportunities to improve state health care workforce data collection and analysis. More

The newly launched Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) invests $50 billion dollars towards strengthening health care across rural America, including by creating sustainable access to rural health care providers and improving workforce development. As states prepare proposals for the RHTP, they need a clear understanding of the workforce available to serve these populations, especially the primary care workforce available to rural Medicaid beneficiaries. More