Source: In These Times
by Osita Nwanevu
“America’s healthcare workforce has been the subject of renewed attention and anxiety since the Covid pandemic began. The crisis only deepened projected shortages that were already set to plague the sector as the country will need hundreds of thousands more physicians and nurses in the decade ahead to meet demand. Every imaging test and every blood draw relies on a large web of personnel that’s also strained. ut that’s only part of the problem. Roughly 60% of America’s healthcare workforce is employed in what the industry calls ’allied health’ roles: medical assistants, technicians, physical therapists and others who make up much of the background infrastructure of American medicine. A 2022 survey of some 1,000 healthcare facilities around the country found that more than 85% of them were short allied health workers. And the pipeline for educating and training them leaves much to be desired.” (12/31/24)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/hospitals-healthcare-understaffed-coops-allied