# Plain Language Summary: Professional's Access to Health Workforce Integration Act of 2023

The United States faces serious shortages of healthcare workers across many fields—nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, mental health, and primary care. This bill addresses that problem by creating a new federal grant program to help skilled immigrants who trained as healthcare professionals in other countries get jobs in American healthcare that match their education and experience.

Right now, millions of college-educated immigrants in the U.S. are stuck in low-skill jobs that don't use their training. The bill recognizes that many of these people are actually healthcare professionals—doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health workers—who are unemployed or working jobs far below their qualifications. When these professionals get proper support to enter the healthcare field, they typically increase their earnings by 215 to 900 percent. The bill also notes that immigrants already working in American healthcare tend to be better educated than American-born healthcare workers, suggesting they're a valuable resource.

To fix this mismatch, the bill allows the Department of Health and Human Services to give grants to hospitals, nonprofits, community organizations, schools, and government agencies. These organizations would use the money to help internationally trained health professionals enter the American healthcare workforce by offering job placement services, training programs, English language courses, and help evaluating their foreign credentials. The bill also funds efforts to educate American employers about the qualifications of these professionals. The program would run from 2024 through 2028, though the bill doesn't specify how much money will be spent.

Professional’s Access to Health Workforce Integration Act of 2023

Smith, Adam

Professional's Access To Health Workforce Integration Act of 2023 This bill authorizes a grant program to assist unemployed and underemployed skilled immigrants who are internationally trained health professionals with entering the U.S. health workforce. The grants may be awarded by (1) the Bureau of Health Workforce within the Health Resources and Services Administration, (2) the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, or (3) the Office of Minority Health. Eligible grant recipients include clinical, public health, or health services organizations; community-based organizations; academic institutions; and states and localities.