A two-year examination of Nebraska’s health care workforce shows a critical need for expanded efforts to remedy a shortage of health care professionals.
The report analyzed the current workforce – physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, primary care providers, allied health, public health and mental health professionals. It projected future needs and determined shortages in various fields and geographic areas.
“Nebraska is one of the best at producing a health care workforce and is a national leader in rural health programs. However, we face a looming crisis in the number of health care workers and the professionals we have are not distributed across the state in the same way as our population,” said Keith Mueller, Ph.D., professor in UNMC’s College of Public Health and director of the Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research (NCRHR) which conducted the study.
The major results include:
- Current professional shortage areas:
- Fifty of Nebraska’s 93 counties are currently designated primary care; Health Professional Shortage Areas
- Forty-five of Nebraska’s 93 counties have some level of nursing shortages;
- Eighty-eight counties are federally designated mental health shortage areas.
- Nebraska’s health care workforce is aging:
- Over a third (35.8 percent) of doctors are older than 50 years;
- About a third (33.6 percent) of nurses are older than 50 years;
- Over 40 percent of pharmacists are older than 50 years;
- About 50 percent of dentists are older than 50 years;
- Rural Nebraska has a higher proportion of pre-retirement age workers.
While the aging workforce is a top concern, the impact of health care reform would accelerate the need for more health care professionals,” Dr. Mueller said.
“Nebraska faces an explosion of aging patients but if we begin providing coverage for thousands of uninsured patients, it could push the need for primary care providers to urgent levels,” he said. “We’re not ready. Neither are any other states.”
The report, “A Critical Match: Nebraska’s Health Workforce Planning Project,” will serve as a guide for state policy makers to address future shortages, Dr. Mueller said.
It will be presented to state health officials and the University of Nebraska Board of Regents in October.
Some of the recommendations from the NCRHR include:
- Create a state health workforce center;
- Expand the role of pipeline (recruitment) programs aimed at provider shortage areas;
- Increase funding for current debt relief programs aimed at new graduates.
The $100,000 project was funded by the Larson Medical Research Fund through the University of Nebraska Foundation. The project included input from key stakeholders including professional and trade associations, public health departments and health care providers.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $100 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 3,200 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.
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