Impact Workforce

Building community hiring pathways that create opportunities for employment and career advancement.

Learn more about the Impact Workforce strategy in action by viewing this Advocate Health video.

Why it Matters

Stable employment, a leading indicator of economic well-being, is a critical driver of health and is foundational to individual and community well-being. Yet, residents in under-resourced communities face significant systemic barriers to finding good jobs and achieving economic stability.

Health systems can create fair access to quality jobs and career pathways through a range of impact workforce strategies.

Intentional, outside-in pathway programs prepare individuals experiencing barriers to employment and provide specific entry points to high-demand, quality jobs at the institution through training and skills development, often in collaboration with community organizations. Inside-up, impact-promotion career pathways and workforce development programs connect new hires and other incumbent employees to opportunities for career advancement through training, education and intentional programming. Outside-in and inside-up strategies are complemented by policies that facilitate equitable advancement and benefits that help lower-wage employees achieve the financial security needed to maintain good health and live fuller lives.

“We cannot recruit enough existing talent with the required skills and credentials. To fill critical healthcare roles, we must create and build our own workforce by engaging people, helping them see themselves in healthcare, and supporting their skill development and career advancement.”
– Jenny Macaulay, Director of Workforce Development and Planning at Dartmouth Health.

Leadership Commitment

HAN’s Impact Workforce Commitment is a national leadership commitment and framework for leveraging the hiring and workforce power of health systems to advance economic mobility in the communities they serve.

Recent Initiatives

WorkAdvance Cohort

Health systems are partnering with community and place-based organizations to build structured career pathways that connect residents in economically distressed communities to quality, in-demand healthcare jobs. Learn more here.

For information on joining HAN, please let us know a little about you and your institution here or reach out directly to membership@anchornetwork.org.

The Impact Workforce Toolkit

Outside-In Strategies – Inside-Up Strategies – Laying the Foundation

Diving In – Return on Investment – Tools for Getting Started

Check out the full toolkit here.

Impact Workforce Case Studies

Ochsner Health Maternal Health Case Study

September 11, 2026

Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) and the National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) produced Ochsner Health: Piloting a Community Health Worker…
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Integrating Doula Support into Hospital Maternity Care Teams

August 31, 2026

Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) and the National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) launched the Maternal Health Workforce Cohort in…
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Baystate Health: Outside-in and Inside-Up Workforce Strategies

February 21, 2024

In our latest case study we feature Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) member Baystate Health, a nonprofit, integrated health system serving…
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See all case studies

Impact Workforce News Updates

HAN supports 7 members to connect local residents to high-demand careers

HAN is thrilled to be able to provide grant funding and technical assistance to support seven of its members over a 2-year period to implement impact workforce strategies, due the generous support of the Ballmer Group. The WorkAdvance model is a nationally recognized, research-validated, results-driven workforce development approach that creates intentional career pathways for residents […]

Ochsner Health Maternal Health Case Study

Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) and the National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) produced Ochsner Health: Piloting a Community Health Worker position to support rural maternal health patients. Ochsner Health was a member of the HAN & NPWF Maternal Health Workforce Cohort and the case study covers how the Cohort helped the health system demonstrate the need for […]

Health systems turning hiring into community impact

The Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) released the Impact Workforce Toolkit, a practical resource that captures a decade of learning on how health systems can use their hiring and workforce practices to create meaningful economic opportunity in their communities. The results are that community members get a fair shot at a good job with career pathways and health systems […]

Housing stability strengthens the workforce, economy, and overall community health

HAN member SSM Health is partnering with Dane Workforce Housing Fund II and Lake Ridge Bank to invest in the construction of The Bankston Apartments, an $11.2 million, 40-unit workforce housing development in downtown Madison, WI. The apartments will help address the city’s growing shortage of affordable housing, with 30 of the units slated for […]

Positively impacting community health through anchor operations

HAN member UC Davis Health is advancing community health through its Anchor Institution Mission (AIM), an effort focused on leveraging the health system’s economic, human, and intellectual resources to support healthier and more resilient communities across the Sacramento region. Central to AIM is workforce development that expands inclusive recruitment, strengthens local employment pathways, and increases […]