The gap between educational institutions and healthcare systems continues to widen, creating workforce shortages that threaten both sectors. While universities struggle with enrollment pressures and healthcare facilities battle staffing crises, few recognize these challenges as interconnected problems requiring collaborative solutions. Dr. Jayson Boyers has spent over two decades developing partnerships that bridge this divide, creating sustainable workforce pipelines that benefit entire communities.
Recognizing the Shared Crisis – Reframing Partnerships for Impact
Both sectors are dealing with the same demographic crisis but pretending they’re separate problems. Universities watch their programs struggle with declining enrollment. Meanwhile, healthcare systems throw money at recruitment firms or contract labor trying to fill positions that should have been planned years ago. The old model just isn’t cutting it anymore. “I’ve seen firsthand that isolated efforts and incremental change simply aren’t enough,” Dr. Boyers says. He’s watched too many well-intentioned partnerships collapse because nobody wanted to admit the real scope of the problem.
After watching countless collaborations fail, Dr. Boyers developed what he calls the value lens framework. Most partnerships between schools and hospitals start with someone having a bright idea over coffee, then falling apart when reality hits. “The solutions we need must be collaborative, strategic, and built for impact,” he explains. The framework has three parts, but it’s really about getting institutions to stop thinking as competitors and start acting as partners.
Mission Alignment
The first piece is mission alignment, which sounds obvious but comes down to being honest about what you’re good at and where you add unique value. Too many institutions jump into partnerships without understanding what they actually offer or what their partners need. “Institutions must define and communicate their unique strengths and how those strengths address real industry requirements, community needs, and health system demands,” Dr. Boyers explains.
Here’s a simple example that actually works. Say you’ve got a university with a strong allied health program sitting next to a regional hospital that’s desperate for qualified technicians. Sounds appropriate, right? “A university’s unique expertise in allied health can directly support regional hospitals, but only if there’s intentional alignment in co-planning,” Dr. Boyers points out. The key word there is intentional. Most partnerships happen by accident and disappear just as fast.
Focus On Shared Impact
The second principle tackles how partnerships measure success. Most collaborations fail because they’re measuring the wrong things. Schools care about graduation rates, hospitals care about filling positions, and nobody’s looking at the bigger picture. “It’s not just about student success or provider staffing. It’s about identifying outcomes that matter across the board,” Dr. Boyers explains. The framework looks at career readiness, community health, and economic mobility as connected pieces of the same puzzle. When you start measuring these broader outcomes, something interesting happens. Both partners start seeing benefits they didn’t expect. “Measuring what matters builds trust and ensures all parties benefit,” he notes. Trust turns out to be the secret ingredient most partnerships are missing.
Using Strategic Levers Effectively
The third principle involves what Dr. Boyers calls strategic levers. These are concrete things both partners can do together, not just nice ideas that look good in press releases. “These include integrated training models, employer-informed curriculum design, and data sharing between partners,” he explains. Here’s where most partnerships either succeed or fail. When healthcare systems actually help inform the design of curriculum, students graduate with skills that match real job requirements. When colleges and universities share data about student outcomes, hospitals can plan better instead of just hoping qualified candidates will appear. “By pulling these levers together, we create systems that respond to today’s demands and tomorrow’s opportunities,” Dr. Boyers says.
His approach goes beyond fixing immediate problems. The value lens framework creates something more sustainable than quick fixes or temporary programs. “We’re not just launching programs or filling roles. We’re building ecosystems of resilience and impact,” he explains. The framework shows institutions how to become actual partners in community development instead of just neighbors who occasionally talk. When schools and hospitals work together strategically, they create workforce pipelines that benefit everyone, not just their individual organizations. The real insight from Dr. Boyers’s work is simple: education and healthcare problems aren’t separate issues that need separate solutions. When institutions stop working in isolation and start collaborating strategically, they can solve workforce challenges while strengthening their entire community.
Connect with Dr. Jayson Boyers on LinkedIn to explore sustainable strategies for bridging education and healthcare.
