>> Frederica: THE WORK FORCE
SHORTAGE IMPACTING THE LION'S
SHARE OF THE JOB MARKET IS
SLAMMING PHARMACIES.
WITH THE ADDED WORKLOAD OF
PROVIDING VACCINATIONS AND
BOOSTER SHOTS, THE CRISIS LEVEL
SHORTAGE OF PHARMACISTS AND
TECHNICIANS IS LEAVING SOME TO
TURN PATIENTS AWAY OR WAIT DAYS
FOR A PRESCRIPTION TO BE FILLED.
THE SHORTAGE COULD BE
ALLEVIATED.
THE PHARMACY SOCIETY OF
WISCONSIN SAYS MORE THAN 200
PHARMACISTS HAVE EXPERIENCED
SEVERE DELAYS IN THEIR LICENSING
PROCESSING PREVENTING THEM FROM
WORKING.
IT'S NOT JUST PHARMACISTS.
NURSES, THERAPISTS, AND OTHER
PROFESSIONS ARE FEELING THE
FRUSTRATION.
FOR ANSWERS AS TO WHY THIS IS
HAPPENING, WE TURN TO THE NEW
SECRETARY DESIGNEE OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IN CHARGE
OF APPROVING THESE LICENSES, DAN
HERETH, JOINING US NOW, AND
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING
HERE.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
THANK YOU, FREDERICA, FOR
ALLOWING ME SOME TIME TO JOIN
YOU TODAY.
THIS ISSUE IS CERTAINLY ONE
THAT'S NEAR AND DEAR TO OUR
HEARTS AT THE AGENCY.
LICENSING FOLKS THROUGHOUT
WISCONSIN IS A RESPONSIBILITY
THAT WE TAKE INCREDIBLY
SERIOUSLY.
YOU KNOW, WE ARE CERTAINLY IN
UNCERTAIN TIMES, AND HAVE BEEN
FOR A FEW YEARS NOW, AND THE
MOST RECENT IT RATION OF --
ITERATION OF THAT IS WORK FORCE
SHORTAGES.
WE AT THE DEPARTMENT EXPERIENCED
THOSE.
THOSE OUT THERE IN THE
COMMUNITIES ARE EXPERIENCING
THOSE.
YOU KNOW, RECORD HIGH LABOR
FORCE PARTICIPATION, RECORD LOW
UNEMPLOYMENT, THOSE ARE GOOD
THING, BUT THAT LEAVES US WITH
NEW CHALLENGES TO FACE, AND,
CERTAINLY, WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS
THAT.
AT OUR AGENCY, WE WORK WITH OVER
240 UNIQUE CREDENTIALS.
OVER THE LAST SIX YEARS,
LICENSING VOLUME HAS BEEN
INCREASING DRAMATICALLY EVERY
YEAR.
OVER 100% INCREASE IN THAT
TIMEFRAME, AND WHILE WE ARE
PROUD OF THE PROGRESS WE'VE BEEN
MAKING AS OF THIS YEAR, WE'RE
ISSUING LICENSING 40% FASTER
THAN WE'VE EVER ISSUED THEM IN
THE HISTORY OF OUR DEPARTMENT.
WE ARE LICENSING MORE PEOPLE
ANNUALLY THAN WE'VE EVER
LICENSED IN THE HISTORY OF THE
DEPARTMENT.
WE CERTAINLY KNOW THAT THERE'S
MORE WORK TO DO, AND PART OF
THAT WORK IS OUR BUDGET, AND SO
THE LAST TWO BUDGET CYCLES, WE
REQUESTED SOME ADDITIONAL
POSITIONS.
THOSE REQUESTS CERTAINLY HAVEN'T
BEEN FULLY MET, AND WE'RE GOING
TO REQUEST MORE POSITIONS IN
THIS BUDGET CYCLE BECAUSE, AS
YOU WELL KNOW, SERVING OUR FOLKS
HERE IN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN
IS A TOP PRIORITY.
>> Frederica: SO I WANT TO
CIRCLE BACK TO SOME OF THE
POINTS YOU'VE MADE, BUT, FIRST,
WHAT CAN YOU TELL PEOPLE WANTING
TO WORK IN THEIR FIELD, BUT
THEY'RE STILL WAITING FOR THEIR
LICENSE?
>> YOU KNOW, MY BEST ADVICE IS
ALWAYS TO LOG IN TO THE SYSTEM,
PARTICULARLY FOR FOLKS WHO
APPLIED IN OUR BRAND NEW SYSTEM
LICENSEE.
AGAIN, THE -- THAT TECHNOLOGY
COMBINED WITH SOME OF OUR
EFFORTS INTERNALLY ALLOWED US TO
ISSUE LICENSES 40% FASTER, BUT
WITH THE UPTICK IN VOLUME, WE
DEFINITELY NEED MORE HELP IN
POSITIONS TO MOVE THAT FORWARD.
>> Frederica: IN FACT, YOU
DESCRIBE HAVING BEEN CRITICALLY
SHORT STAFFED IN THE AGENCY.
DESCRIBE HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE
HANDLING WHAT KIND OF VOLUME OF
APPLICATIONS AND INQUIRIES.
>> YEAH.
ABSOLUTELY.
SO AS OF ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO,
THERE WAS ON AN ANNUAL BASIS
ANYWHERE FROM 25,000 TO 30,000
LICENSES THAT WERE APPLIED FOR.
IN THE RECENT BIENNIUM, THAT
NUMBER CREPT UP TO OVER 60,000.
UNFORTUNATELY, JUST LIKE THE
LABOR SHORTAGES HITTING
EMPLOYERS ACROSS THE STATE, IT'S
HITTING OUR AGENCY, TOO, AND
SHORT TERM EMPLOYMENT IS NOT
SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE FOR A
LOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS
ENVIRONMENT, SO THAT'S WHY IN
OUR RECENT BUDGET, WE'RE
REQUESTING AN ADDITIONAL 30FTE
TO ALLOW US BOTH TO COMMUNICATE
BETTER WITH APPLICANTS WHO HAVE
QUESTIONS OR NEED HELP MOVING
THROUGH THE PROCESS, BUT ALSO,
THEN, TO PROCESS THINGS.
>> Frederica: SO THE AGENCY
WENT TO AN ONLINE LICENSE
APPLICATION PROCESS, I BELIEVE,
IT WAS JUST THIS PAST SPRING,
BUT THE PHARMACY SOCIETY TELLS
US THEY'VE GOT 200 APPLICATIONS
IN THE PIPELINE RIGHT NOW SAYING
THE NEW SYSTEM DOES NOT SEEM TO
HAVE HELPED THE DELAYS.
WHAT'S YOUR RESPONSE TO THAT?
>> YEAH.
YOU KNOW, I THINK AT THIS POINT
IN THE YEAR, THERE'S ALWAYS
GOING TO BE LICENSE HOLDERS IN
SOME -- OR PERSPECTIVE LICENSE
HOLDERS IN SOME STAGE OF THE
PROCESS.
LICENSING IS -- IS, AS YOU MAY
BE AWARE, NOT NECESSARILY A
VENDING MACHINE-TYPE PROCESS.
IT IS ITERATIVE AND INVOLVES
MULTIPLE STEPS DEPENDENT ON ONE
ANOTHER, AND SO WITH THE NEW
SYSTEM, I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE
NUMBERS BARE OUT WE'RE LICENSING
PEOPLE 40% FASTER, SO WE WENT
FROM A 76-DAY AVERAGE
HISTORICALLY DOWN TO NOW A
45-DAY AVERAGE IN 2022.
>> Frederica: IT'S FUNNY, THE
76-DAY AVERAGE OR THE 45-DAY
AVERAGE, I MEAN, WE HAD BEEN
HEARING REPORTS OF PEOPLE
WAITING MONTHS FOR THEIR
LICENSE.
>> YEAH.
YOU KNOW, I HEAR THOSE THINGS
TOO, AND I FIND OFTENTIMES WHEN
PEOPLE COME TO ME WITH
PARTICULAR CONCERNS, AND I GET
E-MAILS DIRECTLY FROM APPLICANTS
ASKING FOR ASSISTANCE, THAT THE
REALITY IS OFTENTIMES IF WE WERE
WAITING MONTHS, THERE ARE A
VARIETY OF FACTORS THAT IMPACT
THAT, WHETHER IT'S TIME IT TAKES
TO MOVE THROUGH THE TESTING
PROCESS WITH NATIONAL EXAMS OR
IT'S TIME THAT IT TAKES TO GET
DOCUMENTATION TO THE DEPARTMENT,
OUR GOAL AT THE DEPARTMENT IS TO
MOVE THROUGH THE INCOMING
INFORMATION AS FAST AS
RESPONSIBLE, AND THE REALITY IS,
AS I'VE SAID SEVERAL TIMES, WE
NEED ADDITIONAL STAFF TO DO
THAT.
NOW, IN TERMS OF THOSE FOLKS,
THE OTHER PART OF THAT EQUATION
IS AT THE END OF THE DAY, SOME
FOLKS NEED ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE
TO MOVE THROUGH THE PROCESS.
IT'S NOT ALWAYS CLEAR TO
EVERYBODY WHAT THE STEPS ARE OR
WHAT MAY BE THE MISSING PIECE
FOR THEM, AND THAT'S WHY THE
COMMUNICATIONS ASPECT IS SO
CRITICAL.
WE HAVE, AND WE'VE ASKED FOR
STAFF IN THE PASS, WE HAVE SIX
FTE TO ANSWER ROUGHLY 5,000 TO
10,000 PHONE CALLS IN A GIVEN
WEEK.
OBVIOUSLY, THAT MATH DOES NOT
WORK.
WE REQUESTED STAFF TO DO JUST
THAT IN PAST BUDGETS AND WILL
REQUEST THAT STAFF AGAIN IN THE
NEXT BUDGET.
>> Frederica: SO IF
SHORT-STAFFED HOSPITALS CAN'T
PUT NURSES BACK TO WORK AND
PHARMACISTS CAN'T POTENTIALLY
FILL PRESCRIPTIONS IN A TIMELY
FASHION, OR THERAPISTS CAN'T
STOP THEIR NEW JOB BECAUSE THEY
ARE WAITING FOR THEIR LICENSE,
WHAT KIND OF BURDEN DOES THIS
CONTINUING KIND OF LICENSING LOG
JAM PUT ON THOSE WHO NEED CARE?
>> YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY, IT'S
SOMETHING, AGAIN, AS I STATED
WHEN WE STARTED THE
CONVERSATION, THAT WE ALL TAKE
PERSONALLY.
SERVING THE CITIZENS OF
WISCONSIN IS A TOP PRIORITY, AND
THAT'S WHY WE MOVE QUICKLY TO
IMPLEMENT THE NEW LICENSEE,
WHICH AIDED US IN DROPPING
LICENSE TIMES SIGNIFICANTLY,
AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S GOING TO
TAKE ALL OF US WORKING TOGETHER
TO ALLOW THE AGENCY TO SERVE THE
FOLKS IN THE WAY THEY NEED TO BE
SERVED.
>> Frederica: ALL RIGHT,
SECRETARY DESIGNE, DAN HERETH,
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
>> ABSOLUTELY, THANK YOU.