REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT BOARD OF HAMPDEN COUNTY, INC.

Healthcare & Nursing

Healthcare, as the region's largest and strongest industry sector, employs about 18.5% of the workforce in Hampden County and contributes 20% to the economy in workers wages. The REB works with healthcare employers, academic institutions, workforce development agencies and local foundations to address the sector's workforce development needs and promote innovative training initiatives. With demonstrated results working on nursing issues, the REB expects to expand activities in the healthcare sector over time.  

NURSING INITIATIVE OVERVIEW

Collaborating for the Advancement of Nursing: Developing Opportunities (CAN DO)

The nursing shortage in western Massachusetts is caused by a dramatic gap between employers' ever increasing demand for nurses and the ability of our educational institutions to produce an adequate supply.  New solutions to address the nursing shortage require employers and education to work in collaborative manner since closing the nursing workforce gap benefits everyone, including citizens, healthcare providers and the region's economy.

CAN DO is an alliance of healthcare and nursing education institutions in western Massachusetts dedicated to eliminating the region's shortage of nurses by supplying a workforce of diverse, culturally proficient nurses.  The REB in partnership with the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation convenes the CAN DO partners as part of a unique collaboration supported by Partners Investing in Nursing's Future (http://www.partnersinnursing.org/), a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation.  Selected in 2006 as one of only ten sites across the US, CAN DO demonstrates strong institutional commitment to change and uses promising best practices to guide its work.