Q&A with Dan LaVallee

This conversation has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. 

What are the crucial issues that need to be addressed to create the best scenario for insurance companies, the state and Pennsylvanians themselves?

UPMC Health Plan has long recognized that insurers can do more to address health disparities, which include being unemployed or underemployed. We also believe that Medicaid should support programs that address socioeconomic factors that impact the health of Medicaid members. That’s why we created “Pathways to Work,” a community-led workforce development program serving Pennsylvania neighborhoods. Focusing on Medicaid members and others facing barriers to employment, Pathways to Work assists in training, recruitment and hiring to help individuals access meaningful – often life-changing – careers by filling in-demand health care jobs and often pursuing additional apprenticeship and other training opportunities.

What are some of the ways you/your organization are working to make that happen?

We hire around 200 of our own Medicaid members per month – 7,843 from 2021 to 2023, to be exact – into good-paying careers with health benefits at UPMC. Thanks to our Pathways to Work team and partnerships with workforce development boards like Partner4Work, we can invest in building skills to succeed through pre-employment training programs like our Freedom House 2.0 program – built off the 1960s legacy that started emergency medical service in the Commonwealth and across the country. The program focuses on addressing trauma, building resilience and meeting social needs while we enhance skills through training and credentialing, and it has graduated 150 individuals into roles in our hospitals, doctors’ offices and communities. Next year, we will expand this work and bring new healthcare apprenticeship programs that will train, recruit, and hire those coming through Pathways to work in high-need jobs that serve our community.

What is your elevator pitch to explain how you and your company are improving the lives of Pennsylvanians through your efforts in this crucial sector? 

The best way to show our commitment is to share our successes. One of my favorites is “Marquisha’s” journey through Pathways to Work and its life-changing impact on her career and family. After years of service industry jobs, Marquisha learned about Pathways, completed the program, and began working as a pharmacy services representative at UPMC in 2020, where she continues to advance professionally.

While Pathways strives to help people like Marquisha find a bright future, she – and many others coming through the program – remind us how insurers can address health disparities and make lasting improvements on community health.