New Hampshire’s Health Care Workforce Crisis Demands Breakthrough Thinking

By Maureen Znoj, DA, CGS, M.ED, Senior Director, HealthForce NH

New Hampshire’s health care workforce shortage isn’t temporary, it’s systemic. Hospitals, behavioral health facilities, long-term care providers, community health centers and home health agencies compete for limited talent while facing burnout, an aging workforce and inadequate pipelines of new professionals.

Traditional approaches like recruitment fairs, sign-on bonuses and loan forgiveness programs remain essential. But these strategies alone won’t change our trajectory. We need innovative approaches working alongside proven methods to create sustainable solutions.

HealthForce NH’s 2026 Innovation Challenge is seeking bold solutions to New Hampshire’s health care workforce crisis, offering up to $100,000 for first place, up to $60,000 for second place and up to $40,000 for third place. Applications open January 21, 2026, with a deadline of March 4, 2026. But this competition is about more than awards, it’s about building a community of innovators who refuse to accept that our workforce challenges are unsolvable.

Read more here.

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