Italy’s Piedmont region faces a shortage of around 6,000 nursing professionals. Regional authorities are now seeking both short-term and long-term solutions.
Italian newspaper La Stampa reported on the region’s efforts to address the growing healthcare workforce gap.
Piedmont Health Councillor Federico Riboldi recently visited Uzbekistan after an earlier mission to Albania. He aims to establish sustainable university programs that can train new healthcare professionals.
Riboldi said Piedmont could face a major nursing shortage in the coming years. The regional healthcare plan expects around 1,000 nurses to retire each year over the next decade.
Even if universities operate at full capacity, the number of new graduates will not cover the expected gap.
Riboldi described the situation as a structural challenge. He said Piedmont needs more than short-term recruitment. The region wants to create Italian university programs abroad and train professionals according to Italian academic standards.
At the same time, Piedmont continues to recruit foreign-trained doctors and nurses through established procedures. Professional bodies also verify their qualifications.
These professionals already work in several Piedmont hospitals. They help maintain essential healthcare services.
The region is therefore pursuing two parallel strategies. One addresses the immediate shortage. The other focuses on building a long-term workforce.
Piedmont has already launched a Double Degree program between the University of Gjirokastër in Albania and the University of Eastern Piedmont.
Authorities are also preparing a new partnership between the University of Tirana and the University of Turin.
Riboldi said the region is developing two additional projects in Uzbekistan. One will involve the University of Turin in Tashkent. The other will involve the University of Eastern Piedmont in Samarkand.
The mission to Uzbekistan aims to finalize these opportunities and strengthen cooperation with local universities.
However, Riboldi stressed that the programs will not produce nurses immediately. He described them as a strategic investment that will deliver results in the medium and long term.
He also rejected a recruitment-only approach. Instead, Piedmont wants to build serious and structured university programs abroad.
“Healthcare cannot rely on improvisation or propaganda,” Riboldi said. “It requires planning, training professionals, and preparing today for tomorrow’s needs.”
He added that the initiative will not replace the need to improve Italian nurses’ salaries.
Instead, he said, the strategy will help improve working conditions. With enough staff, healthcare professionals will no longer have to work with staffing levels below the required numbers.
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