The health workforce is a vital part of our health care delivery system. To meet the health care needs of the population, it is essential to have a workforce that is well-trained, adequately staffed, and diverse. However, even in this post-pandemic era, significant challenges remain.

This introduction to a special collection of papers in Health Affairs Scholar—that focuses on key issues and challenges currently confronting the health workforce—provides an overview of 8 articles, each of which was developed by 1 of the 9 federally funded Health Workforce Research Centers (HWRCs).