California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has launched a $32 million public-private partnership designed to add thousands of professionals to the state’s healthcare facilities over the next three years.
The Allied Health Initiative is aimed at reducing California’s critical healthcare worker shortage.
“The healthcare industry is one of the bright spots in our economy continuing to add jobs, and still our hospitals and community clinics struggle with massive shortages because our colleges and medical training program can’t keep pace with the rising demand,” said Schwarzenegger.
The initiative will bring regional industry and education leaders together to develop effective allied health partnerships. An allied health professional is a licensed individual, such as a lab technician, dental hygienist or pharmacy technician, who works in support of a nurse or doctor.
“This public-private partnership will expand the number of pharmacists, lab technicians (and) imaging specialists,” said Schwarzenegger.
Funding consists of $16 million from the state, divided into $8 million in federal Workforce Investment Act funding and $8 million in Recovery Act federal stimulus funding. Private partners, such as schools and hospitals, will provide $16 million in matching funds or in-kind contributions.
“California community colleges have over 72,000 students enrolled in health occupation programs, and we expect that this Initiative will increase our ability to educate even more students in the healthcare field,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott.
According to a Health Workforce Solutions study, more than 60 percent of the health occupations in California are in allied health and are experiencing shortages. The most recent employment numbers available from the California Labor Market Information Division and Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate California has 73 percent of the pharmacists, 65 percent of the medical lab technologists and 62 percent of the radiation technologists and technicians of the national average to meet the needs of 100,000 people.
In spite of the economic downturn, the healthcare industry continues to grow in California, adding more than 27,000 jobs between February 2008 and February 2009.
By the year 2030, more than one million Californians will be 85 years of age or older, thus increasing the demand for healthcare services. The California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the Employment Development Department workforce projections include the need to educate more than 206,000 additional healthcare professionals by 2014.
“We have long predicted that the current number of providers, especially physicians who are experiencing their own shortage, cannot possibly handle the increased workload,” said Lynn Rolston, CEO of the California Pharmacists Association. “While it will take years to fulfill the need for new personnel, this is a great beginning.”
The Allied Health Initiative will be structured after Schwarzenegger’s 2005 California Nurse Education Initiative, a $90 million, five-year public-private partnership which has boosted the numbers of Registered Nurse graduates by 54 percent, new faculty members by 56 percent and new student enrollments in RN programs by more than 68 percent since its inception.
The initiative will begin in the fall with 25 community colleges enrolling more than 700 additional allied health students.