Covista Open Doors: Investing in America's Healthcare Workforce
What to know
- Covista announced a major milestone in Covista Open Doors, its multi-year commitment to build and sustain America's healthcare workforce, as Covista and the Covista Foundation together commit $10 million and 50,000 volunteer hours over the next five years.
- Covista is partnering with NAF, a national education nonprofit, to encourage interest in healthcare careers and is supporting four NAF Academies of Health Sciences over three years.
- The Covista Foundation is launching a Student Emergency Care Fund for students across Covista's five institutions facing unexpected hardship.
- Covista is investing in organizations focused on healthcare worker mental health and wellbeing: the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation and The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare. The company has also joined the ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare national coalition.
- Through Community Rounds, a new volunteer program, Covista is mobilizing its 10,000 faculty and colleagues toward a goal of 50,000 volunteer hours supporting local healthcare organizations and future clinicians.
- In its inaugural grant cycle, the Covista Foundation is awarding funding to 10 nonprofit organizations that will collectively reach more than 6,000 students, clinicians and community members.
America’s healthcare staffing gap has become a patient care crisis, with the U.S. facing projected shortages of more than 100,000 registered nurses and 140,000 physicians by 2038, as well as nearly 100,000 mental health counselors and psychologists by 2030, according to HRSA.
Closing that gap requires building a stronger workforce pipeline, removing barriers to entry and supporting the well-being of current clinicians already on the job. Covista announced a major milestone in Covista Open Doors, its multi-year impact commitment to build and sustain the healthcare workforce. Here’s a closer look:
What is Covista Open Doors?
With 76% of clinicians reporting that staffing shortages are compromising their ability to provide high-quality care, the healthcare workforce shortage is already affecting patients. To help address this, Covista Open Doors focuses on three key areas:
- Inspiring the next generation of healthcare professionals through career exploration and community partnerships
- Removing barriers that stand in students’ way of graduating
- Supporting the mental health of practicing clinicians through evidence-based programs designed to reduce burnout and improve retention
How is Covista introducing students to healthcare careers earlier?
Young people are not choosing healthcare careers at the rate America needs them to. Through a new partnership with NAF, a national education nonprofit dedicated to preparing high school students for college and career success, Covista will support four NAF Academies of Health Sciences over three years in Washington, D.C., Dallas, TX, Raleigh, NC and Los Angeles, CA—connecting students directly to healthcare professionals and real-world career experiences that build the awareness and aspiration needed to set young people on a path to healthcare careers.
How is the Covista Foundation helping current healthcare students who face financial or personal barriers to complete their degree?
Many students enrolled at Covista institutions are working parents, first-generation students or career changers who encounter financial pressures beyond tuition costs that can derail their path to graduation. The Covista Foundation's Student Emergency Care Fund provides non-tuition financial support to students across Covista's five institutions facing unexpected hardships, such as a health emergency, housing crisis or other urgent need.
By helping students stay enrolled through moments of crisis, the fund removes barriers that might otherwise keep them from completing their healthcare education and entering the workforce.
Why is healthcare worker mental health a workforce issue?
Healthcare worker mental health is a workforce issue because burnout, workplace stress and lack of support are driving healthcare professionals to consider leaving the profession—putting additional pressure on an already strained system. According to the Covista Care Capacity Monitor, 61% of clinicians say reducing workplace stress and improving mental health and well-being should be a top employer priority, second only to ensuring adequate staffing.
Evidence-based interventions that address workplace policies, peer support and organizational culture have shown measurable results. According to research cited by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation, similar programs have already delivered a 37% reduction in burnout and a 50% decrease in mental health conditions among participants. Addressing retention at scale means helping healthcare organizations create the environments where clinicians can sustain long careers.
How are companies addressing burnout and mental health for clinicians already in the workforce?
According to the Covista Care Capacity Monitor, even clinicians who report being satisfied with their employers are considering leaving the profession in the next 12 months, including 17% of primary care physicians and 14% of registered nurses. Improving retention requires solutions that support both individual well-being and the workplace environments that shape the clinician experience.
Through Covista Open Doors, Covista is investing in evidence-based programs that reduce burnout and strengthen support for healthcare workers at scale. In partnership with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation, the initiative is supporting a national Caring for Caregivers cohort that will help 10 hospital systems improve workplace policies and normalize help-seeking.
Covista has also partnered with the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare to bring Schwartz Rounds—facilitated discussions that help healthcare teams process the emotional realities of their work—to five health systems, while two additional systems will receive Schwartz Stress First Aid training. In addition, Covista has joined ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare, a national coalition of more than 35 organizations working to create healthier workplaces and expand mental health support for healthcare workers.
How is Covista mobilizing its own people to address the healthcare workforce shortage?
Through Community Rounds, a new year-round volunteer program, Covista is putting the clinical expertise and teaching experience of its 10,000 faculty and colleagues directly to work in the communities that need them most—from mentoring high school students exploring healthcare careers to supporting professionals on the front lines of the shortage. The program launches with a goal of 50,000 volunteer hours, representing $1.8 million in donated service based on the Independent Sector's national valuation.
What is the Covista Foundation, and how is it investing in the next generation of healthcare workers?
The Covista Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) public charity based in Chicago that supports healthcare education and workforce development. The Foundation is investing in programs that inspire interest in healthcare careers, ensure Covista students have access to emergency financial assistance and alleviate burnout and promote wellbeing for healthcare workers.
In 2026, the foundation is directing funding towards programs in rural and underserved urban communities. Its inaugural grant cycle supports 10 nonprofit organizations advancing these goals, including healthcare career exploration programs with the National 4-H Council, After School Matters and Remote Area Medical.
How is the Covista Foundation expanding to accelerate this impact?
To help accelerate this impact, the Foundation is expanding its Board of Directors. Megan Noel, Covista's chief corporate affairs officer, will serve as Board Chair alongside new members Donna Hrinak, Michael Fisher, former CEO of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Krishanu Evans, chief strategy officer at Covista and Bob Phelan, Covista's chief financial officer. They will join the existing board members who are continuing their service: Robert Gilbert, dean of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Scott Liles, Covista’s president of medical and veterinary, Leah Meizoso, vice president and deputy general counsel at Covista and Sue Subocz, associate president and provost at Walden University.
