North Texas Regional Workforce Planning Initiative
A Look Inside

After agreeing they had one thing in common — one meager pool of talents from which to grow a workforce — in 2009, several area hospital systems including Baylor Health Care System, HCA North Texas and Texas Health Resources, under the collaborative fervor of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation Workforce Center (DFWHC Foundation), started meeting to address workforce concerns. As it turned out, no one system had the answer. It became apparent that for each system’s workforce needs to be met, they must become partners, hence, the birth of the North Texas Regional Workforce Planning Initiative. The search began for a workforce tool to conduct an analysis of HR data as well as glean the benefit of regional benchmarks.

It is fascinating how life has a way of taking a turn of events. Who would have thought I would be writing from a different office and more interestingly, from a different organization? Not in a million years! I did not see it coming because it happened so fast and without warning. Yes, one day I was working as the Workforce Planning Analyst for Baylor Health Care System and the next I am sitting in an office at The DFWHC Foundation in a most exciting position as a regional HR Workforce Analyst. With the healthcare reform act looming and its impact on industry workforce requirements, I have the opportunity to help support the workforce operational and expansion needs from a regional perspective. How cool!

Now that you have the history, let’s fast-forward to today. A search was launched to find a workforce tool, but not just any tool. This one had to be special. After much discussion and contemplation, the consensus favored SonarVision Enterprise, a tool owned by Dan Hilbert, founder and chief executive officer of OrcaEyes. Dan is extremely passionate, knowledgeable and bright. Since getting the nod, he has hired a brilliant group of individuals for this project. We look forward to working with him.

Each partner supplies OrcaEyes’ SonarVision with data. In return, partners only have access to their own data, which is kept on individual servers. So far, SonarVision has received great reviews as participants are becoming familiar with the tool and seeing their data in a format consistent with expectations. They will be able to use the tool’s analytics to discover eye-opening revelations. These individual servers feed aggregated data into a regional server where it is aged in order to meet antitrust regulations. Workforce business decisions must be understood regionally since everyone is pulling from this same pool of talent. The regional workforce tool will provide that regional perspective.

We have taken the lead in positioning ourselves to understand our workforce and prepare for the natural attrition of aging and retirement in the future. The North Texas region, like others across the country, is limited in available talents. OrcaEyes and the DFWHC Foundation understand the enormity of this undertaking. The DFWHC Foundation is committed to collaborating with partners to ensure we have a viable pool of qualified individuals ready to meet the healthcare workforce needs of the future. We are ready for this opportunity!

For more information, please contact:  Neguiel Francis at 972-717-4279 or nfrancis@dfwhcfoundation.org or Sally Williams, Workforce Center Director, at 972-717-4279 or swilliams@dfwhcfoundation.org.