UnitedHealth Group Inc.
09/23/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/23/2025 07:06
Partnering to develop and expand the health care workforce
Joshua's story
Joshua Caballes of Miami, Florida, is one of thousands of people who recently found himself at an employment crossroads, facing fewer opportunities as a trained automotive worker due to growing industry automation. Longing to continue contributing meaningfully to his community, he viewed the health care industry as an opportunity - and an essential industry that encouraged more people to join the workforce.
A social media post from Goodwill promoting a no-cost health care training program opened the door for Joshua.
The program is part of the Goodwill Opportunity Accelerator,® a multi-year collaboration announced in 2024 between UnitedHealth Group and Goodwill Industries International that aims to increase access to education and training, health-related social needs support and workforce development opportunities in 25 states through 37 Goodwill® organizations. UnitedHealth Group invested $4.7 million in initiatives to expand job training, employment services, and high demand career pathways for thousands seeking stable work and career advancement. Since 2024, nearly 60,000 individuals have received services, including training, certifications and job placement assistance. Of those, 15,800 have become employed, and thousands of others have received personalized support to meet their unique career goals.
With help from the program, Joshua received the training he needed to forge a new career in health care at no cost to him. Balancing part-time work with his studies, he completed the Sterile Processing Technician program in two months, successfully navigating the complexities of medical terminology and the intricacies of handling vital equipment. Today he works for a hospital, ensuring surgeons have clean, sterile equipment to perform life-saving procedures.
"Grab the opportunity. This will change your career and your life. I am part of the team, and I am helping save lives. I'm making a difference."
Joshua Caballes
Lanora's story
The program also changed the life of Lanora Witherspoon, who, shortly after moving to Georgia to care for a family member, was laid off from her job. While looking for a new position, she was connected to Goodwill of North Georgia where she qualified for the Goodwill Opportunity Accelerator. The program accommodated her family member's medical schedule, allowing Lanora to move at her own pace to complete a course focused on medical coding over six months. Her new job as a medical coder allows her to work from home and still take care of her family member.
"I have told everyone I could about this program. The Goodwill program was a lifesaver for me."
Lanora Witherspoon
Facing industry challenges
The Goodwill initiative is a leading example of many efforts UnitedHealth Group has created or partnered in to help upskill and expand the health care workforce. Joshua and Lanora are among more than 5,500 individuals who have found stable jobs or advanced their careers in the health care field since 2020, thanks to UnitedHealth Group's many workforce development partnerships. The many programs aim to help alleviate challenges faced by the health care industry - including burnout, an aging population, aging health care professionals, and staffing shortages in key specialties and in rural communities - by expanding the workforce and improving the capacity of the system. Recent forecasts project a shortage of 187,130 physicians by 2037 and in many other health care professions, which could worsen health disparities and impact patient care.
"Our partnership with UnitedHealth Group is changing lives. Its commitment to workforce development and access to health care is also expanding opportunity-especially for individuals in insecure, part-time, or low-wage jobs who often face poor health and limited access to basic essentials. Together, we're expanding access to job training and career pathways like internships, apprenticeships, and mentorships that research shows lead to lasting employment and family-sustaining wages. We're not just creating jobs-we're building healthier, more resilient communities."
Steve Preston | President & CEO, Goodwill Industries International
By the numbers
UnitedHealth Group has committed over $156M in direct and facilitated investments workforce development programs which have supported nearly 5,500 individuals in joining or advancing their career within the health care field since 2020, increasing access to critical health care services for communities across the country. And UnitedHealth Group enabled more than 150,000 learning engagements annually for health care professionals pursuing continuing education and resources to enhance their skillsets.
Joshua Caballes (center) pictured with Xavier Murillo, training manager (left), and Catherine Miranda, training coordinator (right).
"Investing in the health workforce is a win-win for everyone involved. A larger and more efficient health workforce helps more people access care. And when individuals have a pathway to advance their careers through more stable, higher wage jobs, it improves their life and likely their health as well. As the country's largest health care employer, UHG has made expanding and empowering the health workforce a key strategy of its mission to help make sure the health system works better for everyone."
Catherine Anderson | senior vice president, health optimization strategy, UnitedHealth Group
How else we're showing up
Through the Health Care Scholars United program, the United Health Foundation (UHF), established by UnitedHealth Group in 1999 as a nonprofit, private foundation, committed $100 million over 10 years to provide scholarships and support to 10,000 current and future health care professionals who want to improve their clinical skills and credentials. So far, UHF has supported more than 2,400 scholars seeking to pursue or advance their health care careers.
Knowing that nurses are the backbone of our health care industry, UHF also provided a $3.1 million grant to the American Nurses Foundation to develop the Nurse Well-Being: Building Peer and Leadership Support Program. Developed by nurses for nurses, the program - initially piloted within four health care organizations - is designed to transform organizational culture, remove stigma associated with seeking mental health supports, and offer nurses a new resource that helps them assess their own well-being and that of their peers.
Other UnitedHealth Group and UHG partnerships include:
A program with Maycomb Capital's Community Outcomes strategy focused on delivering integrated English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) curriculum to facilitate individuals' entry into the health care workforce.
A scholarship program established by Optum Rx with with Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University's College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences/Institute of Public Health, to help pharmacists enter the field.
MindIgnite!®, a program launched in 2023 to inspire youth including from socially vulnerable communities to consider health care as a career choice. More than 27,000 students across eight states and Washington, D.C., in grades four through 12 have participated in the program thus far which includes more than 600 UnitedHealth Group volunteers who are licensed health care professionals.
UnitedHealth Group has facilitated the development of high-demand health care apprenticeship programs and hired over 300 individuals across seven states for job placement in medical assistant, sterile processing technician, and community health worker roles.
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Expanding and empowering the U.S. health care workforce
The U.S. health care system is facing a critical and escalating crisis driven by widespread staffing shortages, rising patient demand, an aging workforce and insufficient talent pipeline. Read more to learn about the many partnerships that UnitedHealth Group has developed and supported to expand the health workforce.
Read the thought leadership paper
UnitedHealth Group Inc. published this content on September 23, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 23, 2025 at 13:06 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]