Building Arizona's Health Care Workforce and Delivering A healthy Future
The Arizona Board of Regents and its public universities have launched a bold initiative to build our state’s health care workforce with a new plan: AZ Healthy Tomorrow. This plan will rapidly grow the health care workforce with the creation of two new medical schools and increased medical school graduates.
It’s estimated nearly 3 million Arizonans have limited access to primary care, and more than one in three Arizona hospitals face a critical staffing shortage.
This multi-faceted health care initiative for Arizonans is crucial for the long-term health care needs of our state. The plan includes major growth and new investment by each of our state’s public universities, significant partnerships with the private sector and the support of state government.
What are our next steps?
Launch New medical Schools at ASU and NAU
Double U of A Medical Student Graduates
Increase Nursing and Other Health Care Graduates
Arizona State University is launching a new medical school that will integrate clinical medicine, biomedical science and engineering, and plans to grow its partnership with the Mayo Clinic and expand the nursing workforce. ASU Health will accelerate and focus its health-related efforts to tackle the state’s urgent health care needs, now and into the future.
Northern Arizona University is designing a new College of Medicine to prepare physicians for primary care practice in rural, underserved and Indigenous communities in Arizona. The program will feature accessible, affordable and accelerated pathways to becoming a Doctor of Medicine at an in-state primary care practice. NAU Health will also expand the university’s leadership in nurse education through the creation of a College of Nursing and enrich health professions offerings throughout the state, doubling the number of degrees awarded by NAU in health-related fields by 2030.
The University of Arizona plans to double the number of medical school graduates and expand its partnership with Banner Health to create a fully integrated academic medical center. The result: a higher standard of care for Arizonans and increased volume of medical students and graduates for our communities. The U of A will also leverage telemedicine and its extensive rural health network to help ensure health care access across the state.
"There is not a moment to waste as Arizona must train and deploy the health care professionals our fast-growing population requires. AZ Healthy Tomorrow is about bettering the lives of Arizonans and Arizona families by improving access to health care and lowering costs."
Regent Fred DuVal
The Gap
Unless action is taken, annual growth in all Arizona health care professions over the next decade is projected to slow. According to ABOR analysis, below are the number of professionals needed by 2030 to fill the shortages.
14,291
Registered Nurses
3,644
Physicians
2,419
Behavioral Health Workers
1,120
Dental Hygienists
988
Physical Therapists
871
Occupational Therapists