No single effort can create the ideal healthcare workforce; accordingly, Washington has adopted a multipronged approach to improve the size and distribution of the primary care workforce. Washington’s recruitment and retention efforts include coordinated planning, pipeline and education efforts, support for service programs, and employer technical assistance programs. Clinician retention is woven into much of the recruitment programming. Great efforts are made to provide clear communication of and exposure to the unique challenges and rewards that rural and underserved clinical opportunities can bring.
Socioeconomic inequality and geography are barriers that affect primary care access in Washington State and thus impact health outcomes. Because of such barriers, across the state and between population groups, health disparities persist.
