Healthcare workers invited to major Houston summit

Global healthcare leaders are heading to Houston for the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association annual conference.

HOUSTON - The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association is hosting its annual conference in Houston to bring together changemakers from biotechnology, biopharma, digital health, medical technology and hospital systems.

FOX 26 anchor and medical reporter Melissa Wilson will moderate the opening keynote session, examining how executives can navigate ongoing industry shifts.

Healthcare Businesswomen's Association conference in Houston

Timeline:

The conference runs from Nov. 16 through Nov. 18, beginning with an opening session and public solutions summit hosted at the Texas Medical Center.

The backstory:

Five pioneering women established the organization five decades ago to improve workplace conditions for female professionals. Their male supervisors funded the initial endeavor, establishing a collaborative foundation that continues today as an alliance dedicated to expanding leadership pathways across health fields.

What to expect

What they're saying:

"It is a must-attend experience for Houston's thriving healthcare and life sciences community, because, of course, we know that there are over 430,000 healthcare and life sciences jobs in Houston," said Mary Stutts, CEO of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association.

"We are going to have our opening event at the Texas Medical Center where they are hosting us with our public solutions summit that our think tank does, where we will share data around digital innovation and the impact that's having on the workforce. Our focus is future-focused, impact-driven, and we're tackling the big questions for our industry while talking about transformation and the impact on leaders trying to lead in this era of change and continuous innovation. Women are the majority of the healthcare workforce, so over 76 percent in the U.S. and up to 70 percent globally, so it is very important for us to focus on making sure women are healthy and prepared to be leaders, and certainly everything we do is open to women and men."

Healthcare workforce and industry impact

By the numbers:

430,000: Health care and life sciences jobs based in the Houston area.

76%: Share of the U.S. health care workforce represented by women.

70%: Global proportion of health care positions held by women.

5 million: Total employees represented across the association's 150 corporate partner networks.

80: Global locations where the 50-year-old organization currently operates.

Local perspective:

Houston serves as an ideal setting for the conference due to its massive life sciences footprint and the presence of the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world.