Allison Annette Foster has joined IntraHealth International in the role of senior advisor for human resources for health (HRH). Foster brings 15 years of experience in health systems strengthening and extensive expertise working with global, regional, and national stakeholders to improve the performance of the health workforce.

Foster will lead IntraHealth’s efforts to expand its reach and effectiveness in addressing health workforce challenges around the world. She will work alongside the global community of HRH advocates and experts to further develop the evidence base that demonstrates the impacts health workforce interventions have on health care delivery and health outcomes and to promote strong, integrated health systems that give health workers the support and working conditions they need to provide all populations with high-quality services. 

“The world is facing a wide spectrum of critical and emerging health issues, and the key to addressing them is health workers who are well-trained, equipped, motivated, and supported, and who have the right skills for the job,” says Maureen Corbett, IntraHealth’s vice president of programs. “We are thrilled to have Allison Foster join us to help bring about the health workforce and health systems improvements the world needs to achieve sustainable health and development goals.”

In 2013, IntraHealth reached more than 178,000 health workers in 35 countries with interventions designed to make sure health workers are present, ready, connected, and safe. At the 2013 HRH Global Forum in Recife, Brazil, IntraHealth committed to increasing its reach to at least 475,000 health workers annually by 2020. Foster will provide the organizational leadership behind this commitment.

“Human resources are not a separate element of a health system, but the expression of the system,” Foster says. “And now as we approach the post-Millennium Development Goal era, it is time to make HRH a global priority. Increased private-sector investments and technological innovations are just two potential accelerators I’m excited about for advancing global and national efforts to expand health coverage, improve the quality of care, and ultimately increase the well-being of families and communities around the globe.”

Before joining IntraHealth, Foster served as the team lead for health workforce development and performance and as senior advisor for quality improvement at University Research Corporation. There she designed and implemented interventions to improve health workforce performance and productivity, increase satisfaction and retention, empower team-based management and self-directed improvements, and build evidence about best practices in HRH. Before that, Foster worked as a regional advisor for the Americas at the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization.

Foster has a master’s degree from the University of Florence Socrates Program in international communication and media. She is based at IntraHealth’s Washington DC office.