Building the Healthcare Workforce of The Future: Geoffrey Roche

In the U.S., headlines about healthcare labor shortages and escalating burnout are impossible to ignore. As systems expand and merge, the looming question remains: How do we build a sustainable, community-connected healthcare workforce that meets the demands of tomorrow—while staying rooted in the values that matter today? This challenge is more than an HR problem. It sits at the heart of healthcare quality, access, and equity.

In a recent episode of The American Journal of Healthcare Strategy Podcast, we sat down with Geoffrey Roche, MPA, EdD—Director of Workforce Development (North America) at Siemens Healthineers, recognized leader, and LinkedIn influencer—for an unflinching look at why traditional approaches to talent pipelines are breaking down, and how both legacy health systems and upstarts can rethink the entire playbook. Roche’s career bridges hospital administration, academia, and now global medtech—making him uniquely positioned to answer a question on every healthcare leader’s mind: How do we create a workforce that is ready not just for today, but for the future of American healthcare?

What Drives a Healthcare Workforce Leader? The Power of Upbringing and Local Impact

Why do some leaders devote their careers to healthcare workforce development, and what can we learn from their journeys? For Roche, the answer is personal and rooted in his upbringing. “I always credit my mother… without question, my mother was a huge influence on what interested me and also attracted me to want to serve in healthcare,” he shared. Roche watched his single mother—who became a nurse when he was just five—impact her local community as a labor and delivery nurse, embodying a calling to serve others.

Initially a political science major and active in local politics, Roche pivoted to healthcare after a formative internship. The move wasn’t easy: “I thought I was going the policy, political science route… and then when I did this internship it brought me back to my childhood where I saw my mother work as a nurse.” This dual lens—community-mindedness and political acumen—became the foundation for Roche’s philosophy: healthcare leadership must be about serving communities, not just organizations.

Key takeaways for executives:

• Healthcare workforce leaders are often driven by deeply personal motivations.

• Rooting your workforce strategy in community needs, not just system expansion, is a sustainable competitive differentiator.

Making the Leap: From Politics to Hospital Administration

How do leaders transition from policy and politics into healthcare administration, and what challenges arise? For Roche, the move was not just lateral, but a cultural leap. “Politics is always local,” Roche recounted, noting that his reputation preceded him when applying for his first hospital administration job: “I was a very active individual in that area, and in the interview, they asked me, ‘We’ve heard you campaigned against a state representative. How will you be the face of the hospital?’”

His answer—and subsequent performance—flipped skeptics into advocates. “That same individual… later presented an award to me in our community… he said to the same vice president who posed that question, ‘Boy have I been proven wrong, and look at the results he’s having.’”

Key lessons:

• Politics and healthcare administration both require navigating stakeholder relationships and community perceptions.

• Never underestimate the value of bridge-building: “What’s most important is to keep your eye on your patients and all those around you that you’re serving.”

How Do Acquisitions and Organizational Change Shape Career Paths?

What happens to workforce leaders—and the communities they serve—when systems merge or get acquired? Roche’s tenure in hospital administration ended, as for many, after a larger system acquisition: “The job that I held there was truly like going in every day and not working—it was truly a vocation… Ultimately, a larger healthcare system came in, our board made a decision to move forward with that, and I took a restructuring package.”

Roche’s refusal to betray the trust or “trade secrets” of his prior system—“As a person of integrity, if I’m going to go work somewhere, I’ve got to know they’re not just going to want to steal everything…”—highlights a core challenge: Talent and knowledge don’t transfer as neatly as contracts do. For many, acquisitions bring career uncertainty but also opportunities for reinvention.

Action points for leaders:

• Protecting organizational culture and knowledge during transitions is as critical as operational integration.

• Retaining talent post-acquisition often means investing in their career path, not just their current title.

Why Is the U.S. Still Under-Investing in Workforce Development?

What explains the chronic underinvestment in healthcare workforce development in the U.S.? Roche doesn’t mince words: “If you look at how much learning and development receive from a budgetary perspective every year—even at the largest health systems—if it reaches 2% or 3% of the budget, it’s shocking.” The result is no surprise: high turnover, retention challenges, and a workforce that feels like a cost center, not a strategic asset.

Contrast this with countries like India, where as Roche notes, “they spend way more money on employee education and employee training… because of the competitive environment.” In the U.S., however, “the investment in learning in each and every one of our colleagues will serve our organization in the best possible way forward.”

He is blunt: “In my opinion, healthcare has grown too large, lost its identity in connection to the community… When I was at my healthcare system, academic partnership, learning and development was a cornerstone of what we saw as a strategic asset.”

Three factors holding the U.S. back:

1. Budget constraints and competing priorities: Workforce development rarely ranks high on annual budgets.

2. Loss of community anchor identity: As systems grow, their connection to local needs can erode.

3. Lack of non-traditional pathways: Over-reliance on college degrees ignores alternative, proven models.

Is Bigger Always Better? Community Focus vs. Mega-System Expansion

Can people-focused workforce development be a viable alternative to relentless system expansion? Roche believes the answer is yes—if leadership is willing to buck prevailing trends. Referencing health systems in the Lehigh Valley, he observes, “St. Luke’s is now a standalone system, and Lehigh Valley is now part of Jefferson… St. Luke’s is marketing on being the only local healthcare system making local decisions still about you as the patients.”

He cautions that payer integration complicates the picture: “The big system moving from California has got a big payer part of it… if that payer part becomes part of their new health care systems, they’re in a much stronger position.” But local systems can—and should—leverage their community trust and agility as assets.

Leadership implications:

• Rapid expansion can erode local legitimacy; sustainable growth requires community engagement.

• Workforce and community development can differentiate systems, even in a consolidating market.

Rethinking Education: Why Apprenticeships and Work-Based Learning Matter

What’s broken about the “college first” approach, and how can work-based learning solve for the gaps? Roche is unequivocal: “We have to move to a model of really work-based learning… We can’t just tell people to go to college to serve in healthcare anymore.” Apprenticeships, youth apprenticeships, and hybrid earn-and-learn models are not just nice-to-haves—they’re essential.

On a recent trip to the UK, Roche saw this model firsthand at Siemens MRI in Oxford: “Several of our employees are apprenticeship degree employees, earning their degree on the job while they work and earn a living—they have no student loan debt, Siemens is paying them a job, and they’re getting their degree covered.”

Four steps to modernizing workforce pipelines:

1. Expand apprenticeships and work-based learning opportunities—not just for physicians, but imaging, lab, radiation oncology, and allied health roles.

2. Involve community-based organizations—particularly in underserved areas—to build real pipelines to economic mobility.

3. Stack credentials with new roles, like the Imaging Medical Assistant, enabling incremental progress toward licensure.

4. Align employers, academia, and regulators so that on-the-job training is validated and recognized, not penalized.

Overcoming Structural Barriers: Regulation, Faculty Shortages, and Realities on the Ground

What’s stopping the U.S. from adopting these models at scale? In one word: regulation. Imaging, for example, requires an associate’s degree plus 1,400 clinical hours before certification—limiting how many students can enter the pipeline, especially with community colleges constrained by faculty-to-student ratios.

Roche spotlights a new approach: “ASRT, ARRT, and JRCERT recently released a white paper calling for a new role in imaging called Imaging Medical Assistant… pivotal as it allows us to stack into that associate’s degree, and it’s pre-licensure, so someone who does not have a license can work in a defined role.”

He notes, “Other countries have a defined role as an apprentice… hired into an actual role, apprenticing with a supervisor, with a core curriculum developed and validated by both employer and academic institution.” This model could address both faculty shortages and the disconnect between classroom and real-world learning.

Barriers and opportunities:

• Faculty shortages: Allowing healthcare faculty to work for both hospitals and colleges can create flexible, attractive career paths.

• Online and hybrid learning: Pairing online theory with hands-on clinical experience increases accessibility.

• Policy innovation: The U.S. Department of Labor and leading systems are beginning to pilot these models, but scaling requires bold regulatory action.

Case Study: Imaging Workforce Apprenticeships in St. Louis

How does a real apprenticeship program look in action? In partnership with SSM Health in St. Louis, Siemens Healthineers is piloting an imaging workforce pipeline designed to serve economically challenged communities. “We’re developing apprenticeships to get youth into these actual roles where they can earn an income and ultimately go on to get that degree… many of these young people’s parents have never held a job that can fully support a family.”

The process:

• Students start exposure and paid work in high school.

• They move into an associate’s degree while working, with hours applied toward clinical requirements.

• Community partners support retention and wraparound needs.

• The aim: reverse generational cycles of economic immobility and solve local labor shortages.

How Can Health Systems and Executives Take Action Today?

What actionable steps should healthcare leaders prioritize if they want to future-proof their workforce?

1. Prioritize People Development at the Board Level

• Boards must hold executives accountable for workforce investment, not just operational performance.

2. Build Non-Traditional Pathways

• Expand apprenticeships, stackable credentials, and hybrid learning models—especially for in-demand roles like imaging, lab, and nursing.

3. Partner Deeply with Academia and Community Organizations

• Co-design curricula, share faculty, and align incentives so learning is continuous and practical.

4. Commit to Local Community Anchor Roles

• Embrace the anchor institution framework: “It’s truly about partnership with everyone in that community.” This is your sustainable moat in a hyper-competitive market.

5. Embrace Regulatory Innovation

• Advocate for flexible accreditation and licensure that recognize the value of on-the-job learning and “flipped classroom” models.

The Bottom Line: Lead Boldly, Build Sustainably

Healthcare’s future will not be won by the largest systems or the flashiest tech, but by those who invest in people, prioritize community roots, and have the courage to break from tradition. Geoffrey Roche, MPA, EdD’s story—from the son of a nurse, to political insider, to workforce innovator—shows that true leadership is both local and visionary.

“We can’t continue to substantiate this divide of choosing between college and a degree in the United States… We’ve got to move that forward,” Roche insists. The data is on his side—and time is running out for incrementalism.

If you want to build the healthcare workforce of the future, start today: invest in work-based learning, prioritize people over just expansion, and anchor your strategy in the community you serve. The payoff isn’t just operational; it’s reputational, competitive, and above all—human.