Sheryl McLain, Executive Director
Sheryl McLain was appointed executive director of the Oklahoma Health Care Workforce Center (OHCWC) in December 2007. For a year prior to this, she served as interim executive director for the Center. She is a loaned executive and vice president of workforce initiatives for the Oklahoma Hospital Association. A public-private partnership, the purpose of the OHCWC is to coordinate statewide efforts to meet supply and demand needs for Oklahoma’s health care workforce. Direction for the Center is provided by a 19-member governing board composed of statewide public and private organizations representing educational systems, health care organizations, nurses, allied health educators, legislators and other key stakeholders.
From 1985-2006, Ms. McLain served as vice president of communications for the hospital association, where she directed strategic communications, marketing, media relations, workforce development and issues management. From 2001-2006, she also served as the OHA’s staff liaison for workforce initiatives, providing leadership and staff support to a number of broad-based workforce groups including: a steering committee and working groups on 1) recruitment, 2) retention, 3) education & training, and 4) funding. The work of these groups continues under the structure of the OHCWC, a 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Communities Foundation of Oklahoma. Since 2004, Ms. McLain has served as a member of the Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development (GCWED), representing the health care industry. A member of the GCWED’s executive committee in 2005, she chaired its public awareness and outreach committee. Ms. McLain worked closely with staff from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and many other organizations to produce the comprehensive Health Care Industry Workforce Analysis, released in June 2006.
In 2005, she was appointed as a member of the Governor’s Task Force for Health Care Workforce Resources, which was instrumental in passing SB 1394, creating the Oklahoma Health Care Workforce Center. In 2006, Ms. McLain was named to Oklahoma’s core team for the National Governor’s Association Policy Academy on “State Sector Strategies: Innovative Workforce Policies to Address Worker and Employer Needs.” This group has been developing a strategic workforce plan to further grow Oklahoma’s health care, aerospace and manufacturing industries.
In October 2008, Ms. McLain was appointed to the National Advisory Board of the new Health Workforce Information Center (HWIC), funded by HRSA’s Bureau of Health Professions. The purpose of the HWIC, operated by the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health, is to serve as a single point of entry for health workforce information. The advisory board consists of national health workforce policy experts who will advise on how to meet the information needs for the health workforce development community.
In March 2009, she was appointed as a member of the national steering committee for the Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. The forum’s mission is to provide a network for collaboration and communications among statewide nursing workforce entities across the U.S.
Ms. McLain obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma and earned a Master of Science degree in health administration from the University of Oklahoma.