Read the case about Sharonville Community Medical Center on page 60 of your textbook. In 1 to 2 pages (250 to 500 words), assume you are the new HR director for this facility and that the board of Sharonville Community Medical Center asks you, as the director of HR, to develop a workforce replacement plan to deal with the expected challenge in nursing attrition over the next decade. Describe what you would propose and how these proposed actions would address this important concern. Think about this proactively through a strategy lens.

Sharonville Community Medical Center (SCMC) is a 25-bed hospital located in a rural area of the Midwest. It is 75 miles away from the closest large city and serves a geographic region with a population base of approximately 14,000 people. SCMC employs 200 employees, 40 of whom are in nursing positions, including 14RNs and 26 LPNs. SCMS's board of trustees is made up of various community and business leaders who are concerned about the hospital's future. As a community hospital, its operating and capital budget is supported through a small tax levy. Due to excellent fiscal control and planning, the financial condition of the hospital far exceeds its peer group. However, the board commissioned a study of its workforce and was alarmed by the following findings: - By the year 2015, 66 percent of the current nursing employees will be at retirement age. - The primary source of nursing candidates has been from individuals with nursing training who live within a 30-mile radius of Sharonville. Eighty percent of the current nursing employees attended Sharonville High School, went away to college for nursing training, and returned to the area to pursue their careers. However, fewer recent graduates of Sharonville High School are entering nursing school. Those that do are not returning to Sharonville as others before them did. - SCMC does not have a current workforce replacement plan in place to deal with the nursing employee attrition expected over the next decade. Define the role of HR in dealing with this critical workforce planning issue