North Carolina is facing a healthcare talent crisis, with projections showing the state will need 17,500 more nurses over the next decade to serve its aging and growing population. To meet this challenge, Meehan worked with the NC Chamber Foundation to launch the NC Health Talent Alliance in partnership with the North Carolina Center on the Workforce for Health. The initiative brings together leaders from across the state to develop coordinated, data-driven solutions to one of North Carolina’s most urgent workforce needs.
The NC Health Talent Alliance brings together a network of 10 TPM practitioners across nine regions, supported by a strong data infrastructure and technical assistance team. The NC Chamber’s partnership with the state’s Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) and has been pivotal in providing the financial support and organizational framework necessary to appoint full-time TPM coordinators in each region.
“We really built the structure of this initiative from scratch, with a lot of input from our great TPM experts around the country,” Meehan said. “It also helps that we had strong partners in the NC AHEC and Center on the Workforce for Health. Together, we have had to figure out how to maximize the combined efforts of a statewide backbone organization and a network of local collaboratives.”
The local collaboratives are designed to identify critical job needs and align workforce development strategies.
Meehan highlighted two big takeaways. First, a statewide organization is positioned to develop a resource bank of materials for the network of collaboratives to access. To support these collaboratives, Meehan developed the Student-Employer Engagement Toolkit, a resource that helps nursing students navigate the pathway from training to employment while encouraging healthcare employers to engage earlier and more meaningfully in the talent pipeline.
This toolkit addresses persistent challenges such as limited exposure to careers, hiring process confusion, and a lack of incentives to encourage student persistence. The initiative aims to motivate healthcare employers to be more engaged with students and recognize their own talent gaps. By including employers in the student experience, the toolkit aims to reduce delays in licensure, improve job placement rates, and increase retention.
A statewide backbone organization should also get aggressive about collecting and analyzing data to reduce the number of major decisions at the local level.
Meehan also emphasized the critical role of statewide organizations in simplifying data for local collaboratives and setting measurable goals. “Local collaboratives and their TPM coordinators can get lost in the volume of data they collect,” Meehan said. “If the collaborative hasn’t agreed to a quantifiable goal and timeline for a critical job, then it can’t really go anywhere. A statewide organization can help cut through the noise. Vincent Ginski at the NC Chamber Foundation is a leader in treading new ground on data analysis and action planning.”
Beyond healthcare, Meehan has also worked with collaboratives in tech talent and other industries. In partnership with the NC Chamber Foundation, he also coordinated a statewide TPM Academy focused on community college educators and staff.
“The most recent TPM Academy was an incredible experience,” Meehan said. “These education partners have been instrumental as we push forward on new efforts and new collaboratives.”
Through his ongoing engagement with the TPM National Learning Network, Meehan continues to amplify North Carolina’s efforts on a national stage, while also bringing back new ideas and approaches to strengthen the state’s workforce strategy.
“The simplest thing that any TPM practitioner can do is look at every identified barrier through a TPM lens,” Meehan said. “That has been TPM’s biggest impact on me. Pull at every thread until you get to a clear number or a meaningful action. Nothing is worse than a conversation that ends in a vague statement.”
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