Workforce and Community Engagement

A people first approach to strengthening hospital workforce and community connection is the key to successful recruitment, retention, and engagement. We help you build a workforce environment that improves quality and health outcomes.
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We know that the connectivity between leadership, staff, potential employees, and the community in which they service has a measurable impact on the care delivery of a hospital or clinic. To effectively navigate these components in a rural setting, rural organizations should utilize local data to create strategic and actionable plans to engage staff and key community members in workforce recruitment and retention.

RHI offers a workforce and community engagement package built specifically for hospital and clinic leaders working in rural health care settings. Experts in rural health technical assistance work alongside leaders through three tracks of comprehensive technical assistance: workforce recruitment and retention, staff and employee engagement, and community outreach and engagement.

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Built for rural health leaders.

This includes executive officers, HR directors and managers, mid-level managers, and even board members. For greatest impact and sustainability, your organization should designate one executive officer or director to participate in all three tracks.
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An approach that supports sustainability.

Three cohesive tracks delivered through a structured blend of peer learning, applied instruction, and direct technical assistance from rural health experts.

The workforce and community engagement service is best experienced collectively as a three-track program. All tracks are facilitated by experts in rural health care with decades of experience improving health care delivery alongside hospital and clinic leadership. The time commitment for each participating staff is non-invasive, averaging from 4-6 hours per month.

Workforce Recruitment and Retention Track

Finding and keeping the right team in your rural hospital or clinic is a requirement for successful care delivery. This track provides leaders with a structured, practical path to strengthening their workforce by understanding trends, assessing culture, and building strategies that match the realities of rural health care and workforce pipelines. Through guided analysis, assessments, evidence-based education, and hands-on planning support, you'll create a recruitment and retention approach that empowers staff stability and positions your organization for long-term success.

Staff and Employee Engagement Track

Strong engagement is the foundation of healthy rural organizations, impacting market share and patient outcomes. This track helps you understand organizational needs that foster employee engagement and how to translate that insight into meaningful actions for retention. Through customized assessments and hands-on planning, you'll learn how to use employee feedback, develop shared leadership practices in recruitment, onboarding, professional development, and work-life harmony.  This approach builds an engagement framework that reinforces quality and strengthens operations.

Community Outreach and Connection Track

Your rural health organization's reach extends beyond its walls. This track equips you with the skills to deepen relationships with local partners, understand community health priorities and perceptions, and build trust with the partners that support workforce development. These relations strengthen your hospital or clinic's ability to recruit, retain and engage with their workforce. Community assessments, structured workshops, partner mapping, and on-site framework development support a coordinated approach that elevates your health care organization's presence and strengthens partnerships supporting rural workforce development and stability.

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Exclusive technical assistance

Participants receive technical assistance built on decades of experience building proven models.

Peer Learning: A cornerstone of RHI’s approach to technical assistance is bringing together similar organizations to learn and develop as a cohort. This service capitalizes on the strength of shared experiences, learning from each other’s wins while examining their own areas of need. 

Individualization: While cohorts learn and grow together, hospitals and clinics have individual needs unique to their communities. Analysis and assessments are customized to your organization, allowing you to capture necessary data to inform strategy and action planning. 

Applied Learning: Each learning session focuses on real challenges facing rural organizations and provides education on how to use proven tools, practices, and approaches in your own organizations. You'll gain actionable insights and methods to establish and track progress and outcomes in health care workforce. 

Strategy and Action Planning: RHI facilitates customized strategy and action planning that moves leaders from learning to implementation. Through these sessions, you'll create focused, realistic plans that guide recruitment, engagement, and community connection. The results are measurable outcomes with meaningful impact such as improved employee retention, clear workforce pipelines, reduced position vacancies, and improved employee engagement.

Organizational Follow-Up and Support: RHI has pioneered one-on-one technical assistance. Regularly scheduled check-in calls with rural health experts provide you with opportunities to address challenges, refine strategies, receive feedback, and maintain momentum. This approach gives you the support to ensure sustainable results. 

Access to Proprietary Tools and Resources: You'll gain access not only to rural health care experts, but to specialized tools, curriculum, templates, and planning materials developed specifically for rural hospitals and clinics. These resources help teams maintain structure and sustain improvements long after the technical assistance period ends. 

Contact RHI

Ready to learn more? Let's schedule a no-pressure conversation to discuss organizational needs and solutions.