Parents

The Fox Valley region, like the rest of the state, faces a pending major healthcare workforce shortage. Healthcare is Wisconsin’s second largest employer. By the year 2030 the number of citizens over the age of 65 will increase by 89 percent, while the number of workers age 25 to 45 will decrease by 1 percent.

The state DWD (Department of Workforce Development) forecasts Wisconsin's total need for healthcare workers will grow 30.3 percent by 2012. This forecast includes both newly created jobs to care for an exploding aging population and replacement of existing jobs for those reaching retirement.

This translates to more than 10,000 new and replacement healthcare jobs in Wisconsin every year, until at least 2012.

"Unless we focus our attention and develop strategies and partnerships to address them, the challenges we are facing could become a monumental crisis in the near future." Governor Jim Doyle stated in the Department of Workforce Development "Wisconsin Healthcare Workforce Annual Report" report dated September 13, 2005.

The HEY! (Healthcare Exploration for Youth) website is interactive, fun, and most importantly educational. This website has been created by middle school educators and reviewed by Northeast Wisconsin middle school youth.

The HEY! website development is funded by the University of Wisconsin-Extension Program Innovation Fund.

Partners for this project include: UW-Extension Continuing Education located at UW-Fond du Lac, UW-Fox Valley and UW-Extension; UW-Extension Learning Innovations; Northeast Wisconsin Area Health Education Center (NEWAHEC); Fox Valley Workforce Development Board, Inc. (FVWDB) and Fox Valley Healthcare Alliance (FVHCA).