Partner: State of Indiana

Time Frame: 2020-2021

Indiana’s COVID-19 Reserve Workforce was established by the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) in March of 2020. It is comprised of over 16,000 health professionals and professional healthcare students that answered the Indiana State Health Commissioner’s call to “step up and serve” as a part of the state’s pandemic response. Many health professionals that signed up for the reserve were already working but indicated willingness to take on additional shifts and in new settings. Some college students in health professions programs opted to graduate early and obtain temporary permits authorized by Governor Holcomb in order to serve on the front lines. And perhaps most notable are the 1,213 retired health professionals who signed up to serve on the front lines.

Unprecedented times require unprecedented solutions. The Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy assisted IDOH in managing the Reserve Workforce and facilitating requests from organizations with workforce needs. At the end of March of 2020, reservists contact information was sent to Indiana hospitals to support their preparation to respond to the first surge that occurred in early April. Beginning in April and continuing until March of 2021, more than 2,500 reservists were connected to one or more of the 300 requests received from organizations in need of workforce reinforcements.