Following Governor Greg Abbott’s recent direction and Commissioner Harrison Keller’s creation of a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board task force to address healthcare workforce shortages in the state, two members of the Teaching Hospitals of Texas Board of Trustees – Fred Cerise, M.D., MPH, president and CEO of Parkland Health, and John Zerwas, M.D., FASA, executive vice chancellor for health affairs at The UT System – were named as inaugural members of the newly created task force. In addition, 11 leaders from THOT member-hospitals will join the roster of subject matter experts who form the advisory committees supporting the task force’s work.
“Our members are eager to contribute to the well-organized and multidisciplinary initiative aimed at strengthening our state’s health care workforce,” said Maureen Milligan, PhD, Teaching Hospitals of Texas president and CEO. “THOT members lead the way in addressing the issues inhibiting needed growth in our health care workforce, and we applaud the task force for leaning on our members’ unique experience and expertise.”
The task force, which held its first meeting June 25, will hold monthly meetings and gather insights from state agency experts and other health care stakeholders across Texas. The task force will issue a final report on Oct. 1, 2024.
THOT Healthcare Workforce Task Force Advisory Committee Members:
- Dr. Jackie Brock, Harris Health
- Dr. Bryan Alsip, University Health
- Dr. Kala Bailey, UTSW
- Dr. Deborah Jones, UTMB
- Dr. Julie Moore, JPS Health Network
- Dr. Karen Wright, Parkland Health
- Porter Long, University Medical Center – Lubbock
- Dr. Jennifer Chilton, UT Tyler
- Roxanne Weisendanger, University Medical Center of El Paso – Children’s Hospital
- Jon Law, University Medical Center of El Paso
- Dr. Gujeet Shokar, UT Dell Medical School
A full list of Healthcare Workforce Task Force advisory committee members can be viewed here.
Learn more about our work to support and strengthen Texas’ health care workforce.
