About Us

Funded by The Duke Endowment, and housed within the program office of the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC), the Office for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning (OHW) provides an organizational home and analytic resources for research focused on the various aspects of the healthcare workforce in South Carolina. The OHW is a collaborative partnership between three organizations: the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (SC AHEC), the University of South Carolina College of Nursing, and the Office of Research and Statistics located within the South Carolina Budget and Control Board. Each of these organizations brings different areas of expertise and resources to the study of South Carolina's healthcare workforce.

South Carolina AHEC and The Office for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning (OHW)::

The primary mission of the South Carolina AHEC is to ensure that the rural and underserved areas of South Carolina have an adequate number of primary care providers (physicians, physician assistants, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners). They do this by providing students in the health professions with an opportunity to experience community practice; coordinating post-graduate residency training opportunities for new physicians; providing continuing education opportunities to all types of healthcare providers within their home communities; and by strategic recruitment of young people into health careers. All of these efforts benefit from having an accurate assessment of the number of healthcare professionals practicing in the state, and a realistic estimate of how current and future demand for those professionals differs across the state. Housing the Office for Workforce Analysis and Planning within the AHEC system takes advantage of the AHEC's large network of contacts in a wide variety of health professions and its outreach infrastructure. Both are valuable assets for supporting and disseminating the research efforts of the Office for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning.

The Office of Research and Statistics
The Health and Demographics Section of the Office of Research and Statistics (ORS) receives, processes, distributes, and interpretsa variety of health, demographic, and census data in South Carolina. Information gathered during the license application and renewal process for licensed healthcare providers, and housed at ORS, provides the foundation for estimating and tracking the available supply of healthcare providers practicing in South Carolina. The ORS assists the work of the OHW by providing de-identified data files documented and formatted for research purposes; by consulting on data quality issues; by assisting OHW staff with analyses of health services data; and by actively participating as a member of the OHW Advisory Council.

University of South Carolina College of Nursing

The largest segment of the healthcare workforce is made up of nurses. Nurses are critical to hospital operations, and many other facility types where healthcare services are delivered including physician offices, nursing homes, public health departments, and in our schools and homes. Because of the central role they play in the delivery of health services, the demand for nurses has grown rapidly over the past 50 years. In part because of that increased demand, the nursing profession has experienced cyclical shortages which can threaten both the availability of care and the quality of care. These cyclical shortages have far-reaching consequences.

For those reasons it is important to have regular and on-going assessments of the nursing workforce in South Carolina. As part of the Critical Needs Nursing Initiative Act legislation enacted by the South Carolina legislature in June, 2007, the Office of Healthcare Workforce Research for Nursing was established and housed within the USC College of Nursing as a permanent home for research and planning efforts focused on the nursing workforce in South Carolina. Although recognized as essential by the state legislature, no state funds have been appropriated to support that work. The Duke Endowment, through the Office for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning, has provided start-up funds and on-going support for the Office of Healthcare Workforce Research for Nursing.

SC Area Health Education Consortium

The primary mission of the South Carolina AHEC is to recruit young people into health careers; recruit primary care practitioners (physicians, physician assistants, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners) into rural and other underserved areas of the state; and provide continuing education to all types of health professionals within their home communities. All of these efforts benefit from having an accurate assessment of the number of healthcare professionals practicing in the state, and a realistic estimate of how current and future demand for those professionals differs across the state. Housing the Office for Workforce Analysis and Planning within the AHEC system takes advantage of the AHEC's large network of contacts in a wide variety of health professions and its outreach infrastructure. Both will be valuable assets as the Office for Healthcare Workforce builds research resources and disseminates the resulting information.

The Office for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning is funded through November, 2012, by a grant from The Duke Endowment. Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Duke Endowment seeks to fulfill the legacy of James B. Duke by enriching lives and communities in the Carolinas through higher education, health care, rural churches and children’s services. Since its inception in 1924, the Endowment has awarded more than $2.4 billion in grants.