WORKFORCE | AHHA

Supporting and partnering with member facilities in workforce development efforts is a core focus for AHHA in order to meet the growing demand for healthcare workers across our state. We are leading and managing several initiatives that are aimed at building sustainable pathways to recruit and retain workers.

In 2023, we received funding through a federal US Economic Development Administration Good Jobs Challenge (GJC) grant for a new initiative aimed at building awareness of the wide range of jobs available at healthcare facilities across Alaska, and connecting job seekers with information about education, training, and job opportunities.

AHHA's "Good Jobs Challenge" initiative has three core components:

Healthcare Career Website –"Find Your Fit" is a micro-site of alaskahha.org that serves as a portal to provide information about the wide variety of careers in healthcare and to link visitors with opportunities for training and jobs in Alaska’s hospitals and long-term care settings. You can use the purple "Healthcare Careers" button on the right side of the header above to visit the site.
Workforce Marketing Campaign – We've contracted with an Anchorage-based agency, Walsh|Sheppard, to run a multi-channel promotional campaign to increase awareness of healthcare jobs and training opportunities and to drive traffic to the career website. Ads run on AHHA's Facebook and Instagram channels among other platforms - you can join the campaign by following our accounts and sharing and interacting with our posts.
Healthcare CareerQuest – We hosted our first virtual CareerQuest event for high school students on December 10. This event featured video clips of healthcare workers from facilities across Alaska sharing details about their work and experiences. Students engaged online in live sessions that were recorded and are now available on demand. The event introduces youth to different types of healthcare jobs with a goal to be part of building a pipeline of “Alaska grown” future healthcare workers. We are in the process of gathering additional content for future events and/or online presentations.

We need your help!

The website, campaign and CareerQuest events all feature real healthcare workers from across the state. Below is information about content we are seeking and steps for getting started.

The website features photographs and testimonials from healthcare workers representing a wide range of job roles at Alaska facilities. You can see samples of content we have already gathered at alaskahha.org/career-highlights.

Best practices for taking photos:

Be mindful of lighting and take photos in a well-lit area.
Include photos where the subject is looking directly at the camera.
Feel free to include portraits along with photos of the subject “in action” on the job.
Do not zoom into photos. Allow ample space on either side of the subject to allow for cropping and placement in various mediums.
Include both portrait and landscape photos.
Photos should be at leaset 2MB in size.

Questions for written testimonials:

Please share with us your answers to the following questions in writing.

Tell us about your path to this career. How did you get here? What inspired you to take this role?
How have you grown since you started this role; how has your career developed?
What were some of the challenges you’ve faced on your journey? How did you overcome these challenges?
Describe a typical day in your role.
What’s your favorite part about working in healthcare in Alaska?
In what ways has your unique background or experience contributed to you getting this job, and how does it impact what you do?
What advice would you have for someone considering a career in healthcare?
What’s a misconception people have about working in healthcare?

We need healthcare workers to be on-site for no more than two hours at local schools during the live CareerQuest events. We are looking for staff from your facility to join Middle and High school classes in person to help bring the profession to life by answering questions in real-time and possibly doing a hands-on learning session (i.e., game, show and tell of common tools used in the profession, activity, etc.).

The website and CareerQuest events will include a series of short videos featuring healthcare workers representing a wide range of job roles at Alaska facilities. These videos can be recorded with cell phones and don't need to be professionally produced!

Best practices for filming video with a cell phone:

Make sure your phone has enough storage space and that your settings are set to film in HD or 4K before you start.
Find a place to film with minimal background noise. It is best if the video is shot in your work setting but if the background noise is too loud, please record an interview-style video in a quiet place, and then include a tour or some footage of the workspace for us to layer. As a reminder, be sure that patients are not featured or identifiable in the background of any video.
Use a tripod if you have one or set your phone down on a level and flat surface.
Make sure the room you’re in is well-lit. Use natural light, making sure any light from windows or outside is directed at the person being recorded and from behind the camera.
Film your videos in landscape mode (horizontally).
Shoot with your back-facing camera (lens on the back side of the phone facing the subject) for the best quality.
Review the questions and prepare answers before filming. This will help with sounding more polished whenthe interview is recorded.

Tips for filming on an iphone

Prompts for your video comments / talking points:

What is your role and what do you do in your position?
Tell us about your path to this career. How did you get here? What inspired you to take this role?
How have you grown since you started this role; how has your career developed?
What were some of the challenges you’ve faced on your journey? How did you overcome these challenges?
Describe a typical day in your role.
What’s your favorite part about working in healthcare in Alaska?
In what ways has your unique background or experience contributed to you getting this job, and how does it impact what you do?
What advice would you have for someone considering a career in healthcare?
What’s a misconception people have about working in healthcare?

Get started!

When your content (photo, written testimonial, video) is ready, please follow these steps to submit it:

1. For photos and written responses/testimonials: please complete this submission form to provide us with information about the participant being featured, whether that is yourself or a member of your team. You can upload responses to the questions and photo files for profiles. We will need this media release form completed and submitted for each person featured. You will be able to upload this document into the submission form (link above).

2. For video files. Upload videos from your phone to this Google Drive link or Dropbox link. If these file upload options don’t work for you, please email Jann Mylet (jmylet@alaskahha.org) and we’ll work on finding an alternative way for you to send us your files (i.e. thumb drive or another file sharing system.) If emailing, always send your photos and videos at "Actual Size" - do not compress or reduce the size of the file.

If you have questions or need assistance with any of these items, please contact Marjie Hamburger at mhamburger@alaskahha.org.