• HCA Healthcare and the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday announced a partnership to help satisfy the medical professional needs in Tallahassee
• The city has more than 2,000 vacant positions, leading to a lack of comprehensive care for Tallahassee residents 
• The $200,000 grant will be utilized to develop a pipeline for healthcare workers 
• The funding will go directly to the Tallahassee Chambers’ World Class Schools initiative 

HCA Healthcare’s foundation awarded a $200,000 grant to the Tallahassee Chamber Of Commerce, as first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat. The funding will be utilized to educate and develop a stream of healthcare workers in Florida’s capital, which like the rest of the state, is experiencing a severe shortage of healthcare professionals.

The Democrat reports that the grant will go directly to the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce’s World Class Schools initiative in order to assist a separate Talent Pipeline Management effort.

According to the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, there are currently more than 2,200 healthcare job vacancies in the Tallahassee region, including critical roles like physicians, physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners.

“Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, along with many other healthcare organizations in our area, remains hyper-focused on recruiting and retaining top talent, including nurses, physicians, and other clinical positions.” Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Stephanie Derzypolski said in a news statement published by the Tallahassee Chamber. “We are fortunate to have a pipeline of talent coming from colleges and universities throughout our region due to strong relationships with our local colleges and universities.”

This national project is being championed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce adopting it in 2020 ″based on the needs of the community” during the pandemic.

The grant will be partially employed to recruit out-of-state doctors and physicians to satisfy the glaring workforce needs.

Tallahassee’s educational institutions in recent months have made efforts to provide the region with knowledgeable and hands-on professionals.

Students are now being accepted into the Florida State University’s College of Nursing throughout the spring, summer, and fall semesters, resulting in a three-fold expansion of its student intake, according to WXTL. In each semester’s upcoming enrollment, the number of students will increase from 70 to 144, with additional funding to assist with the expansion coming from state lawmakers, who granted $1.8 million in ongoing funding to support the college’s growth.

Likewise, Florida A&M University in July announced the launch of three new Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree program tracks for the Spring 2023 semester.

“The School of Nursing continuously seeks strategies that increase student success outcomes and enhance our ability to address the nursing workforce needs. These new degree tracks in our Nursing program will help to address the growing demand for health care professionals,” said FAMU Dean of Nursing Shelley A. Johnson.

In the most recent state budget, FAMU received nearly $70 million, of which the school plans to allocate more than $1 million for the school of nursing.