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KHA 2026 Spring Health Care Workforce Summit

Join industry leaders this spring for a full-day conference exploring today’s most pressing workforce challenges — from burnout and morale to workplace violence and allied health workforce programs. Designed for C-suite executives, HR teams, education professionals, and department leaders, this summit offers insights and strategies to strengthen your health care workforce. 

Accommodations

  • Reserve your room today!
    KHA member login required. If you need assistance setting up an account, or resetting your password, please contact Chris Walls at cwalls@kyha.com
  • Room Rate: $199
  • Room Block Closes: April 27, 2026 

Continuing Education

The KHA Health Care Workforce Summit has been approved for 5.0 SHRM and HRCI Continuing Education Credits. 

Agenda

8:15 – 9:00 AM

Breakfast 

Sponsored by

9:00 – 9:15 AM

Welcome

Nancy Galvagni
President/CEO
Kentucky Hospital Association

9:15 – 10:15 AM

Burnout and the Business Case for Well-Being

Ali Farooqui, MD 
Managing Partner 
Integrative Psychiatry and the Kentucky Center for Advanced Neuromodulation 

The Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) partnered with UK HealthCare and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services as part of the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) to launch the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS) program.
 
The KY SOS Program is working with Kentucky hospitals to fight the opioid epidemic.  The program provides services to inpatient, outpatient primary care clinics, and has just expanded its bandwidth to include emergency departments (ED) across the Commonwealth. Reducing opioid overprescribing while improving safe opioid use in inpatient and primary care clinics in Kentucky continues to be the KY SOS mainstay and goal. With the addition of the ED Bridge program, KY SOS now addresses the full continuum of care for Kentucky patients, treatment of pain and treating those with opioid use disorder (OUD).
 
The newest initiative within KY SOS is the launch of the Emergency Department (ED) Bridge Program.  The main objective of the ED Bridge Program is to ensure patients with OUD receive 24/7 access to care.  EDs have an incredible opportunity to make OUD treatment accessible to all.  
 
The state has 11 ED Bridge Programs in place, making a difference in the lives of patients and their communities.  The KY SOS team will continue to expand the ED Bridge Programs into acute care hospital EDs across the state.  
 
The KY SOS ED Bridge Program goal is to increase access to treatment and assist patients in their road to recovery, thus saving lives in Kentucky communities.

After being popularized in the 1980s by Stanford social psychologist Christina Maslach, burnout has dominated conversations on employee wellbeing. In healthcare settings, over half of the physicians surveyed experienced symptoms of burnout. This session will illustrate the subtle differences between burnout, morale, culture, moral injury, and general well-being. We will explore the strategies for addressing and preventing these problems from an individual and systemic perspective. We will also discuss the impact of these issues to stakeholders and systems, and conversely how systematic factors in the healthcare workplace can deteriorate employee health. The talk will focus on data-driven, actionable, and turnkey strategies that promote a healthy healthcare setting.

Learning Objectives: 

  • Appreciate the difference between burnout, moral injury, and psychiatric disorders. 
  • Differentiate between systemic and personal resilience factors that impact employee well-being. 
  • Understand the direct and indirect costs of burnout. 
  • Understand strategies to prevent and/or address burnout. 

10:15 – 10:30 AM

Networking Break with Sponsors

Sponsored by

jackson-physician-search-logo

10:30 – 11:30 AM

Effective In-House Allied Health Training

Moderator:  Kayla Williams 
Director of Human Resources & Workforce Development 
Kentucky Hospital Association 

The Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) partnered with UK HealthCare and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services as part of the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) to launch the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS) program.
 
The KY SOS Program is working with Kentucky hospitals to fight the opioid epidemic.  The program provides services to inpatient, outpatient primary care clinics, and has just expanded its bandwidth to include emergency departments (ED) across the Commonwealth. Reducing opioid overprescribing while improving safe opioid use in inpatient and primary care clinics in Kentucky continues to be the KY SOS mainstay and goal. With the addition of the ED Bridge program, KY SOS now addresses the full continuum of care for Kentucky patients, treatment of pain and treating those with opioid use disorder (OUD).
 
The newest initiative within KY SOS is the launch of the Emergency Department (ED) Bridge Program.  The main objective of the ED Bridge Program is to ensure patients with OUD receive 24/7 access to care.  EDs have an incredible opportunity to make OUD treatment accessible to all.  
 
The state has 11 ED Bridge Programs in place, making a difference in the lives of patients and their communities.  The KY SOS team will continue to expand the ED Bridge Programs into acute care hospital EDs across the state.  
 
The KY SOS ED Bridge Program goal is to increase access to treatment and assist patients in their road to recovery, thus saving lives in Kentucky communities.

Panelists: To be announced  

This panel session will feature health care leaders from hospitals across the state sharing practical approaches to strengthening the workforce through in-house allied health training programs. Panelists will discuss the workforce challenges that prompted program development, provide overviews of their training models, and share early outcomes and lessons learned. Through moderated discussion and audience Q&A, participants will gain insight into key considerations for implementing similar programs in other healthcare settings, with a focus on workforce sustainability, recruitment, and retention.  

Learning Objectives: 

  • Describe key drivers and workforce challenges that led health care organizations to develop in-house allied health training programs. 
  • Identify core components, structures, and partnerships used in successful hospital-based allied health training initiatives. 
  • Evaluate early outcomes, benefits, and lessons learned from implemented programs, including impacts on recruitment, retention, and workforce stability. 
  • Apply practical considerations and best practices when assessing the feasibility of implementing similar workforce training programs within their own organizations. 

11:30 A.M. – 12:30 PM

Lunch and Networking

Sponsored by 

AVADE Workplace Violence Prevention logo

12:30 – 1:30 PM

Hard Lessons, Heroic Outcomes: Why Leaders Who’ve Failed Hardest Often Lead Best

Brian Garver 
Senior Vice President
KeyBridge Medical Revenue Care 

The Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) partnered with UK HealthCare and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services as part of the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) to launch the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS) program.
 
The KY SOS Program is working with Kentucky hospitals to fight the opioid epidemic.  The program provides services to inpatient, outpatient primary care clinics, and has just expanded its bandwidth to include emergency departments (ED) across the Commonwealth. Reducing opioid overprescribing while improving safe opioid use in inpatient and primary care clinics in Kentucky continues to be the KY SOS mainstay and goal. With the addition of the ED Bridge program, KY SOS now addresses the full continuum of care for Kentucky patients, treatment of pain and treating those with opioid use disorder (OUD).
 
The newest initiative within KY SOS is the launch of the Emergency Department (ED) Bridge Program.  The main objective of the ED Bridge Program is to ensure patients with OUD receive 24/7 access to care.  EDs have an incredible opportunity to make OUD treatment accessible to all.  
 
The state has 11 ED Bridge Programs in place, making a difference in the lives of patients and their communities.  The KY SOS team will continue to expand the ED Bridge Programs into acute care hospital EDs across the state.  
 
The KY SOS ED Bridge Program goal is to increase access to treatment and assist patients in their road to recovery, thus saving lives in Kentucky communities.

Our greatest leadership moments usually don’t come when everything’s going perfectly. They come right after we’ve hit the wall, gotten the wind knocked out of us, and somehow found the courage to get back up and keep going. Our greatest strength as leaders isn’t perfection, it’s perseverance. It’s the ability to rise from the mess, the missteps, and the moments we wish we could redo and turn them into something meaningful for the people we lead. This session reframes our understanding of failure showing that real growth comes from overcoming challenges rather than merely celebrating wins. The future of health care leadership will be shaped by those who rise from their setbacks with clarity and humanity.

Learning Objectives: 

  • See failure as fuel for growth.  
  • Lead with resilience and authenticity. 
  • Build a team that learns, adapts, and rises. 

1:30 – 1:45 PM

Networking Break with Sponsors

Sponsored by

Dexur logo

1:45 – 2:45 PM

Proactive Approaches to Address Workplace Violence

Moderator: David Fowler 
Chief Executive Officer 
AVADE® Training 

Panelists: Kyle Dunn 
VP of Nursing Services, Quality Risk Management 
Pineville Hospital 

Cory Tharp 
Senior Manager, Security 
UK King’s Daughter Medical Center  

The Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) partnered with UK HealthCare and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services as part of the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) to launch the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS) program.
 
The KY SOS Program is working with Kentucky hospitals to fight the opioid epidemic.  The program provides services to inpatient, outpatient primary care clinics, and has just expanded its bandwidth to include emergency departments (ED) across the Commonwealth. Reducing opioid overprescribing while improving safe opioid use in inpatient and primary care clinics in Kentucky continues to be the KY SOS mainstay and goal. With the addition of the ED Bridge program, KY SOS now addresses the full continuum of care for Kentucky patients, treatment of pain and treating those with opioid use disorder (OUD).
 
The newest initiative within KY SOS is the launch of the Emergency Department (ED) Bridge Program.  The main objective of the ED Bridge Program is to ensure patients with OUD receive 24/7 access to care.  EDs have an incredible opportunity to make OUD treatment accessible to all.  
 
The state has 11 ED Bridge Programs in place, making a difference in the lives of patients and their communities.  The KY SOS team will continue to expand the ED Bridge Programs into acute care hospital EDs across the state.  
 
The KY SOS ED Bridge Program goal is to increase access to treatment and assist patients in their road to recovery, thus saving lives in Kentucky communities.

Panelists will share their hospitals’ practical and emerging approaches to workplace violence prevention and response. Topics include prevention planning, staff training; de-escalation, reporting, and response practices; post-incident employee follow-up and support; and coordination with hospital security and local law enforcement.  

Learning Objectives: 

  • Understand key elements of effective hospital workplace violence programs, including prevention planning, risk assessment, and clear escalation strategies. 
  • Identify de-escalation and team-based response practices, including roles, communication, and coordination with law enforcement. 
  • Identify and implement best practices for incident reporting and post-incident follow-up, including post-event review and addressing well-being of staff. 

2:45 – 3:45 PM

Building the Human Margin in Healthcare

Katherine A. Meese, Ph.D. 
Chief Executive Officer 
HuMargin Group 

The Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) partnered with UK HealthCare and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services as part of the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) to launch the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS) program.
 
The KY SOS Program is working with Kentucky hospitals to fight the opioid epidemic.  The program provides services to inpatient, outpatient primary care clinics, and has just expanded its bandwidth to include emergency departments (ED) across the Commonwealth. Reducing opioid overprescribing while improving safe opioid use in inpatient and primary care clinics in Kentucky continues to be the KY SOS mainstay and goal. With the addition of the ED Bridge program, KY SOS now addresses the full continuum of care for Kentucky patients, treatment of pain and treating those with opioid use disorder (OUD).
 
The newest initiative within KY SOS is the launch of the Emergency Department (ED) Bridge Program.  The main objective of the ED Bridge Program is to ensure patients with OUD receive 24/7 access to care.  EDs have an incredible opportunity to make OUD treatment accessible to all.  
 
The state has 11 ED Bridge Programs in place, making a difference in the lives of patients and their communities.  The KY SOS team will continue to expand the ED Bridge Programs into acute care hospital EDs across the state.  
 
The KY SOS ED Bridge Program goal is to increase access to treatment and assist patients in their road to recovery, thus saving lives in Kentucky communities.

Workforce is one of the top challenges for leaders today. With persistent shortages and an aging workforce, building the talent pipeline for the future and keeping the people we have is not easy. This session offers an evidence-based look at broad workforce trends in health care, with solutions focusing on how we can respond as an industry, as an organization, and as individual leaders.  

Learning Objectives: 

  • Identify macro-environmental trends contributing to challenges in maintaining a flourishing health care workforce. 
  • Define concrete actions to improve turnover, retention, and engagement. 

3:45  – 4:00 PM

Wrap Up

John P. Hamm 
Associate Vice President, Workforce Development 
Kentucky Hospital Association 

Special Needs: 
KHA wishes to take all steps necessary to ensure no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated, or otherwise treated differently than other individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids or other services. If you need such assistance, please contact Kris Allen, kallen@kyha.com or call 502-426-6220. 


Cancellation Policy 
Written notice of registration cancellation must be received five (5) business days prior to program date to receive a refund. A $40.00 processing fee will be processed against each refund. No refunds will be given after May 11, 2026. 


For more information, contact:  
Workforce Initiatives 
John P. Hamm, JD, SHRM-SCP 
Associate Vice President, Workforce Development 
Kentucky Hospital Association 
jhamm@kyha.com 

Summit Details 
Lauren Wheatley 
Director of Education & Events 
Kentucky Hospital Association 
lwheatley@kyha.com 

Kris Allen 
Events Manager
Kentucky Hospital Association 
kallen@kyha.com