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Oregon Health Authority

Policy Recommendations

Past Committee Recommendations and Reports


Health Care Workforce Needs Ass​essment Report 20​23​ ​This needs assessment re​port, submitted to the legislature by the Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB), is required under HB 3261 (2017). 

Health Care Workfo​rce Needs Assessment Report 2023​ Executive Summary​​ - Summary of conclusions and recommendations of the 2023 Health Care Workforce Needs Assessment Report


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​HB 4003 Nursing Workforce Report: Study on the nursing workforce, with findings and recommendations, as directed by HB 4003 (2022).

HB 4003 Nursing Workforce Executive Summary: Summary of conclusions and recommendations of the HB 4003 Nursing Workforce Study, as directed by HB 4003 (2022).

​Assessment of the existing behavioral health workforce pipeline and associated resources.

​An Analysis of Oregon’s Behavioral Health Workforce assesses the capacity of licensed and unlicensed providers to meet population needs. OHA is in the process of developing a strategic plan to address the issues identified in this report as well as to analyze the impact and feasibility of the recommendations.

​TheRecruitment and Retention Recommendations for Oregon’s Behavioral Health Workforce identifies specific recommendations for action to address workforce shortages. OHA is in the process of developing a strategic plan to address the issues identified in this report as well as to analyze the impact and feasibility of the recommendations.

The Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB) submitted this Health Care Workforce Needs Assessment letter to the legislature.

Examining the Health Care Workforce Needs for Communities and Patients in Oregon, 2018. This needs assessment report, submitted to the legislature by the Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB), is required under HB 3261 (2017).

A snapshot of Oregon’s health care workforce diversity based on data collected during 2015 and 2016.​

The Health Care Workforce Committee has been charged with providing recommendations to the Oregon Health Policy Board on how best to integrate Behavioral Health and Primary Care. Recommendations are due November 2016. More information will be forthcoming on this page. Behavioral Health Integration Work Plan, September 2016

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The Health Care Workforce Committee provided recommendations to the Oregon Health Policy Board on the future of health care workforce provider incentives. The Committee received extensive input from stakeholders — clinicians, hospitals, health care clinics, and other organizations that are the beneficiaries of a robust and trained health care workforce in developing its report to the OHPB.

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​An analysis of health care industry trends in emerging employment categories and new workforce roles, accompanied by an audit of Oregon’s training capacity for those jobs and roles.

​​A policy options memo, developed in consultation with representatives from Oregon Health & Sciences University and the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest, for increasing the number of family medicine and other primary care medical residencies in Oregon. 

​A report on the range of incentive programs designed to encourage providers to practice in underserved areas or with underserved populations in Oregon. The report should: recommend criteria for monitoring the programs and evaluating their outcomes and effectiveness and suggest strategies for sustaining, expanding, and/or re-targeting the programs as necessary.

A snapshot of Oregon’s health care workforce diversity based on data collected during 2012 and 2013.

2017-Workforce-Diversity-Report​

2012 General recommendations for the Oregon Health Policy Board, a report by the Healthcare Workforce Committee (revised April, 2013)   ​

​HB 2366, passed in 2011, directed the Workforce Committee to develop a strategic plan for recruiting primary care providers to Oregon.” The plan addressed best recruitment practices and existing recruitment programs, development of materials promoting Oregon as a desirable place for primary care physicians to live and work, pilot visiting programs, potential funding opportunities, and entities best suited to implement the plan. (January 2013)

​For many years, publicly-funded institutions planning to introduce new training programs or locations were subject to review to avoid detrimental duplication or an adverse impact on privately funded institutions. No such requirement applied to private institutions: they were free launch new programs without the opportunity for comment by publicly-funded programs.  In 2012, the Workforce Committee recommended leveling of the playing field by requiring all schools—public, independent and proprietary—to provide notice of intent to start a new healthcare program and to submit the same information for program approval.  Oregon’s adverse impact law was repealed altogether in 2013 by HB 3341. (June 2012)

​The administrative requirements that health professions students must complete before doing clinical training varied widely. The Workforce Committee initially recommended that clinical placement requirements be standardized because the inconsistencies increase students’ education expenses and create costly inefficiencies and duplication of effort for schools and clinical sites. In consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, the Committee made recommendations for standardizing the administrative prerequisites across a wide range of professions and clinical sites (June 2012). In 2011, the legislature passed SB 879, calling for the Authority to standardize administrative requirements through rule. OAR 409-030 went into effect on January 1, 2014.

This report identifies and describes the professional and system-level skills and competencies that Workforce Committee members believe are most needed to support promising new models of care delivery. It also makes recommendations for how to encourage adoption of promising workforce models and develop the needed competencies among Oregon’s workforce. The report includes a synopsis of over 30 interviews with Oregon and national experts. (December 2011)

​A Non-Traditional Health Worker (NTHW) Subcommittee of the Healthcare Workforce Committee was established in September 2011 to advise on standards for Community Health Workers, Personal Health Navigators, and Peer Wellness Specialists that may offer services within or in conjunction with Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs), as required by HB 3650 (2011 Legislature). The Subcommittee work led to the establishment of the Traditional Health Worker Commission.

​2010 general recommendations for the Oregon Health Policy Board, a report by the Healthcare Workforce Committee (December 2010)

​The Committee has been researching options for a system that would centralize the tracking of students' administrative requirements. Any option considered will support the standards recommended by the Committee and approved by the Board in 2012, and related administrative rules would be developed in consideration of the statewide credentialing database to be created in response to Senate Bill 604 (2013).​