Health Careers Futures Board Welcomes New Members and Highlights Workforce Initiatives

At its first meeting of the year, Health Careers Futures (HCF), an operating arm of JHF, welcomed four new Board members: Jonas Johnson, MD, FACS, Emeritus Distinguished Service Professor and chair, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery; Mark Lewis, CPA, president and CEO of the POISE Foundation; Adam Tobias, MD, MPH, FACEP, associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; and Mary Esther Van Shura, DEd, adjunct associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh.

The meeting provided a forum to discuss critical healthcare concerns and hear directly from some of the individuals that have participated in HCF and Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) programs. Despite the current unprecedented challenges within the healthcare system, JHF President and CEO Karen Feinstein, PhD, emphasized that HCF and the Foundation are actively moving forward important workforce initiatives in the region.

In October 2024, the Appalachian Regional Commission awarded JHF $2 million to build, train, and support frontline workers in Pennsylvania nursing homes. This investment, matched by project partners, will support the training and upskilling of hundreds of nursing home workers by 2027. Taylor McMahon, RN, director of nursing at The Willows – Presbyterian Senior Care Network, expressed gratitude for the support provided by the ARC funding to boost the local long-term care workforce, as well as the learning opportunities provided through the Teaching Nursing Home Collaborative.

Robert Ferguson, MPH, JHF chief policy officer, and Pamela Machamer-Peechatka, LPC, from the PA DHS Office of Medical Assistance Programs, provided updates on Pennsylvania’s new Medicaid reimbursement for certified perinatal doulas.

Starting January 1, 2025, Pennsylvania joined 14 states in covering doula services under Medicaid. The Board celebrated this policy achievement, which began in 2021 with the formation of an advisory group and the JHF-funded PA Doula Commission. Medicaid will now reimburse certified doulas for childbirth education and support services, including physical and emotional care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and up to one year postpartum.

Emily Kadosh, a junior at Taylor Allderdice High School and member of JHF’s PA Youth Advocacy Series and UpStreet Youth Advisory Board, shared her perspective on the Network’s continued statewide advocacy efforts: "If you would have asked me a few months ago, I never would have believed you if you would have told me I’d be advocating for policy change in Harrisburg."

Tony Hood, supervisor for Child and Adolescent Service Coordination at the Human Services Administration Organization and a BH Fellows participant, attended the meeting to share his experience and highlight the program’s impact on leadership development and team collaboration in his organization, where several team members have completed the program. "This work is difficult, and it means a lot to be valued," Hood shared. Currently, 129 BH fellows benefit from a $4.2 million loan forgiveness initiative, covering 59% of eligible debt. The program continues to address recruitment and retention challenges in behavioral and mental health service coordination in the region.