Nicole Pretre, president and CEO of Cedar Community, noted that many health care workers were burned out by the strains of the pandemic. Listening is state Sen. Patrick Testin. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
Wisconsin Sen. Patrick Testin said that workers are burdened with administrative work. “We should not be limiting health care professionals’ ability to practice health care,” Testin said. “Let them do their jobs, and they will rise to the challenge.” (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
Wendy Huddleston, director of the physical therapy program at UWM, noted the need for more classroom space. “I really do think that we are at the point of a health care revolution, and we need to be able to teach our students to innovate,” Huddleston said. “And that requires state-of-the-art spaces.” (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
UWM partnered with WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com to put on the forum. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
“We already had challenges in terms of staffing ... but this really hit us hard during COVID,” said Dr. Leonard Egede, a professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
Kim Litwack, dean of the UWM College of Nursing, moderated the discussion. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
Jeff Mayers, president of WisPolitics, introduces the forum. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
Panelists included Wendy E. Huddleston (from left), Leonard Egede, Nicole Pretre and state Sen. Patrick Testin. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
Panelist chat before the forum begins. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
A panel of experts on Thursday explored the problem and potential solutions for a dire shortage of health care workers in the United States. The discussion, moderated by Kim Litwack, dean of UWM’s College of Nursing, was held at the university’s Zilber School of Public Health.
The panel included:
- Leonard Egede, professor of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
- Nicole Pretre, gerontologist and president and CEO of Cedar Community.
- Wendy E. Huddleston, associate professor and director of the physical therapy program in the UWM College of Health Sciences.
- Wisconsin Sen. Patrick Testin, a member of the Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee and the Senate Committee on Health (chair 2019-22).
The forum was sponsored by WisPolitics.com, WisBusiness.com and the university.