The COVID-19 pandemic forced health centers to change the way health care is delivered. Virtual health care visits were widely and quickly implemented and staff were redeployed to accommodate the demand for testing. This rapid change in health care delivery came with significant challenges including changes in staffing and care team makeup, furloughs, lack of PPE at the beginning of the pandemic, and fear of infection for those in direct contact with patients. As health centers continue to meet community needs related to the pandemic and engage in mass vaccination efforts, it will be important to consider lessons learned over the past year. In this webinar series, ACU’s STAR² Center explored provider burnout and satisfaction in the context of the pandemic, lessons learned, and strategies that health centers can take in mitigating provider burnout and maintaining satisfaction in the next several months.

The first webinar in this series explored “Engagement Strategies to Mitigate Burnout During COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout.” Half or more providers feel frustrated at their job (50%), overworked (57%), burned out (59%), or emotionally drained (68%), according to a survey conducted by the California Health Care Foundation & Goodwin Simon Strategic Research. To address this growing concern during crucial vaccination rollouts, this session explores the three factors for staff motivation (autonomy, capability, and purpose) and offers concrete strategies to help healthcare workers at health centers, even if you and your colleagues are already coping with burnout. The webinar concludes with a number of helpful micro-practices.

The first session in our Mitigating Burnout and Maintaining Provider Satisfaction During Vaccination Rollout Series, this webinar was hosted on March 31, 2021. Want to be informed about other upcoming webinars on health equity for underserved populations? Join our mailing list!

View the Webinar

This webinar and its slides are available at ACU’s STAR² Center.

More Resources on COVID-19, Vaccination Rollouts, and the Health Center Workforce

The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved is regularly updating our detailed list of resources on the coronavirus pandemic with new webinars, fact sheets, and other resources related to health centers, workforce considerations, clinical protocols and guidance, telehealth, and more. You can also view a variety of webinars on COVID-19 and its impact on underserved populations on our health equity webinar archives.