A new survey of community clinics in California reveals that the statewide shortage of allied health workers is putting a great strain on these nonprofit health organizations.
More than eight in 10 clinics reported challenges in keeping allied health positions filled with qualified, trained personnel.
Positions such as licensed vocational nurses, dental assistants and case managers are among the hardest to keep staffed, the survey shows.
"The economic situation is putting a further strain on our collective safety net and community clinics are working to meet this demand under very challenging circumstances," said Carmela Castellano-Garcia, president and CEO of the California Primary Care Association, a membership organization of more than 700 not-for-profit community clinics and health centers. "Retaining qualified workers, particularly in the allied health professions, is but one of the challenges many of our clinics face."
The allied health sector represents more than 200 positions in California that provide a range of diagnostic, technical and therapeutic direct patient care and support services. Castellano-Garcia said the shortage is causing a number of problems such as overworked staff and limitations on community clinics' ability to serve more patients.
The scarcity of allied health workers is prompting clinics to take measures to bridge the gap. More than half (55 percent) of surveyed clinics reported having hired temporary workers or outsourced their work as a result of the workforce shortage, while 72 percent have had to increase overtime for existing staff.
Almost 70 percent of California clinics reported partnering with local training programs to provide clinical training sites, a popular practice among healthcare providers that helps increase the pool of trained health workers.
The survey also polled clinics on policy recommendations to help increase the number of allied health workers in California. Most clinics favor increasing the number of allied health training programs and expanding loan forgiveness programs for health workers across California.
Specific findings from the survey include:
• Eighty-one percent of clinics report that keeping allied health positions filled with qualified, trained personnel is a challenge.
• For clinics that hire such positions, 76 percent of clinics report difficulties in hiring licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). Case managers (56 percent) and dental assistants (50 percent) were also cited as difficult positions to fill.
• Of the problems resulting from an allied health worker shortage, overworked staff was listed as the most serious (60 percent). Clinics also cite decreased productivity for existing staff (59 percent), too much staff time required to recruit and train staff (58 percent) and a limited ability to serve more patients (57 percent) as serious problems.
• More than 70 percent of clinics report increasing overtime for existing staff (72 percent) as a way to deal with the shortage, and 55 percent have hired temporary workers or contracted services to an off-site provider.
The research was conducted via an online survey of 108 California community clinics between Nov. 25 and Dec. 8, 2008 by Goodwin Simon Victoria Research.