The Newly Created RIC Institute for Education in Healthcare Launches First Conference

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The new Institute for Education in Healthcare at Rhode Island
College will hold its first conference – «Building Partnerships to Build the
Healthcare Workforce in Rhode Island» – on Friday, Oct. 28, from 8:30 a.m. to 12
p.m., in 110 Alger Hall, 600 Mt. Pleasant Ave., Providence. Featuring experts in
behavioral and physical health care and workforce development, this conference is
free and open to the healthcare community.
Opening remarks will be given by Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health
Dr. Nicole Alexander, M.D., M.P.H., and by Regional Administrator Kathryn Power of
the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration.

The keynote, titled «Building the Behavioral Health Workforce,» will be presented by
Michael Hoge, professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and senior
science and policy advisor for The Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health
Workforce. Hoge will review typical approaches to mental health and addiction
workforce development and present a framework for workforce planning as well as a
set of strategies to guide workforce development.

Following the keynote and a Q & A, the second keynote will be presented by Laura
Spada, executive director of the Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare. Spada
will focus on workforce development of the future and make particular note of the
need for partnerships between colleges and employers in the development of
curriculum.

Following Spada’s talk, Rebecca Boss, acting director of the Rhode Island Department
of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, will comment on
the workforce implications of addiction and mental health in Rhode Island.

At the end of Boss’ session, the conference will open up for dialogue and discussion
with the audience.
The Institute for Education in Healthcare was established in 2016 to provide
interprofessional education, training and workforce development for the health care
workforce in Rhode Island and to meet the needs of health care organizations. Led by
Executive Director Marianne Raimondo, the institute is a cross-disciplinary,
collaborative effort supported by numerous academic departments: Addiction and
Behavioral Health Studies, Community Health and Wellness, Counseling, Health Care
Administration, Health Sciences, Nursing, Psychology and Social Work.
Established in 1854, Rhode Island College serves approximately 9,000 undergraduate
and graduate students through its five schools: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,
the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Social Work,
the School of Management and the School of Nursing. For more information, visit
www.ric.edu.