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16 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 13, 2025 5 TO WATCH New St. Francis Hospital President Valerie Powell-Stafford says partnerships with nursing schools is a key part of recruiting new staff. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Filling The Gap New St. Francis Hospital President Powell-Stafford focuses on recruitment, technology investment with our talent-acquisition partners," Powell-Stafford said. "We've done a great job with our academic partner- ships as well." St. Francis has academic partner- ships with local nursing schools, including with the University of St. Joseph and University of Hartford, both in West Hartford. It also has nursing students doing clinical rotations from other state schools, including UConn, Southern Connecticut State and Central Connecticut State universities, Quin- nipiac, Capital Community College, Goodwin and Lincoln Tech, as well as the University of Massachusetts. Powell-Stafford said St. Francis successfully recruited about 150 graduate nurses in 2024, "and I'm just looking forward to continuing to support them along their professional journey here." She added that St. Francis Hospital has professional educators on-site every day to support the new nurses. The hospital has also heard from its nursing students about the kind of place where they want to work. "Number one, they want a place where quality and patient safety is a priority," Powell-Stafford said. "Number two, … they want opportu- nities for professional development. And number three, … they want a place that's very mission- and community-service oriented, and that's what we really focus on. I think that's kind of our differentiator." Other priorities While recruiting is a top priority, there are other issues she hopes to address. By David Krechevsky davidk@hartfordbusiness.com T he Governor's Workforce Council published a report in 2020 stating that Connecticut requires about 3,000 new nurses every year to meet the needs of the state's aging population. That figure is particularly disturbing because state nursing schools produce just an estimated 1,900 graduates annually. That nursing shortage, both in Connecticut and nationwide, is expected to get even worse. According to an April 2023 report by the National Board for Certifi- cation of School Nurses, 100,000 nurses left the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2027, the report projects, almost 900,000 nurses — or about one-fifth of the 4.5 million regis- tered nurses nationwide — intend to leave the workforce, citing burnout and under-staffing. Given data like that, hiring and retaining medical staff of all kinds is understandably a point of emphasis for hospitals and health systems everywhere. So, it could be consid- ered a strategic move that Trinity Health Of New England in May named Valerie L. Powell-Stafford as president of St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. Powell-Stafford, who succeeded Thomas Burke, has more than 25 years of experience in health care. She came to Hartford after serving as president and CEO of HCA Northside Hospital — a 288-bed facility in St. Petersburg, Florida — since 2019. St. Francis Hospital, which is licensed for 617 beds, is a signifi- cantly larger institution. An Indiana native, Powell-Stafford received her master's degree in health science administration from the University of Michigan. She began her career in health care in Connecticut, though, serving as an administrative fellow and associate director of ambulatory services at Yale New Haven Hospital. During her tenure at HC Northside, Powell-Stafford spearheaded imple- menting a robotic surgical program and developing a nursing school on the hospital's campus. But most importantly, she led efforts to recruit new physicians. Recruiting for 'key areas' "I'm actively involved in the Amer- ican College of Healthcare Executives," Powell-Stafford said during an inter- view with Hartford Business Journal. "I used to serve on the national board, and I will tell you that (staffing short- ages have) … been a challenge for hospitals across the country." A spokesperson declined to provide the number of nurses on St. Francis' staff or the number of open positions, but Powell-Stafford said the hospital is actively recruiting for some of its "key areas." "We actually have a new (chief nursing officer, Dawn LeRoy), who is doing a phenomenal job, and working VALERIE POWELL-STAFFORD President St. Francis Hospital Education: Bachelor's, healthcare administration, Indiana Universi- ty-Bloomington; Master's, health services administration, and policy, University of Michigan