As one of the remaining independent health systems in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, St. Clair Health is working to help address the current and future shortage of healthcare providers caring for patients in southwestern Pennsylvania. St. Clair Health is taking a bold step to convert from a training to a teaching hospital to address current and projected healthcare workforce shortages.

Our people—our doctors, nurses, and clinicians—allow us to deliver extraordinary care. It is our obligation, our mission, to ensure we have not only enough providers to serve our growing community, but also top-quality providers. To attract, train, hire and retain the best medical staff in the region we have a three- pillar plan.

Combined, these three pillars will educate over 600 health science learners, medical students and residents per year. In return, these medical professionals will provide care to thousands of patients annually. These initiatives begin to address the healthcare workforce shortage now and build a long-term pipeline of well-trained professionals in Western Pennsylvania—the best of whom we will seek to recruit into full-time, long-term employment at St. Clair Health.

2022 was the introduction of an education strategy designed to use education as a lever to produce outcomes in the healthcare workforce shortage. By establishing partnerships with academic institutions throughout the region, St. Clair is working to help train 600 learners annually who will become the next generation of healthcare workers ready to care for our families, friends and neighbors.

“The most important question in education is what problem are you trying to solve?” says Amy Bunger, PhD, VP, Chief Academic Officer and Designated Institutional Official (DIO), who was recruited by St. Clair Health after having served graduate medical education in three other hospital systems. “One problem we’re trying to solve proactively is the profound physician shortage that we are facing. So, our goal is to build primary care that’s longitudinal, where you’re not just a number, and your medical care isn’t just transactional.”

Residents will spend 1-6 years on-site in a best-in-class post-graduate training program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. In partnership with our trusted physicians, residents will provide direct care to patients diagnosing, managing, and treating health conditions and injuries.

“A teaching hospital is one where we have a permanent commitment to you for the life of your residency program and where you become alumni of our organization,” comments Dr. Bunger.

She continues, “The difference between what we’re doing, and other careers is you have a fixed commitment. It’s a very long commitment. We make a commitment to you. You make a commitment to us. That is that longitudinal relationship. I learned from you. You learn from me. We grow together in the process. That in and of itself is very powerful.”