Federal training grants and immigration reform were among the solutions provider groups recommended to a Senate committee last week to address the healthcare worker crisis.
In comments submitted to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee last week, LeadingAge said higher worker wages, federal training grants and a guest worker program for immigrants could solve the shortage of healthcare workers. LeadingAge, which represents 5,000 nonprofit aging service organizations, said several respondents to a poll it conducted last year said they needed 50% more workers to become fully staffed.
“The shortage of aging services professionals at all levels in long-term care is also truly a crisis, and aging services providers across the country need immediate support to expand and enhance the workforce,” LeadingAge wrote in its statement.
The National Association for Home Care & Hospice told the committee in a statement that the shortage of healthcare workers is leading to barriers to care for many of its members.
“NAHC stands ready with constructive ideas to increase the availability of nurses, home care aides, and other care disciplines,” NAHC President William Dombi wrote.
The HELP Committee is looking into options to ease the healthcare worker crisis. Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sander (I-VT) said during the hearing the dearth of healthcare workers is making it difficult for many Americans to access healthcare and is contributing to a decline in life expectancy in many parts of the county.
Sanders blamed part of the nursing shortage on a shortage of nurse educators at many colleges and universities. He called for the expansion of scholarship programs, such as the Nurse Corps and the Nurse Faculty Loan Program.
“We have the absurd situation that in many parts of this country, including Vermont, nursing schools are rejecting applicants because they don’t have the nurse educators and facilities they need,” Sanders said.
The direct care workforce is projected to need an additional 1.2 million jobs between 2020 and 2030, according to research by PHI National. However, the sector will need to fill 7.9 million jobs due to workers retiring or leaving their jobs.
Read more coverage of the hearing at McKnight’s Long-Term Care News and McKnight’s Senior Living.
