Health Care: COVID-19 Drives Exodus of Health Care Workers.

• Author: Sonora, Robert
• Position: MONTANA ECONOMIC REPORT

As in 2020, the health in Montana and globally was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The positive news surrounding the general dissemination of a vaccine has been tempered by the negative impacts new variants of the disease have had on both Montana health outcomes and the economy. As of December, in Montana there were roughly 176.2 cases per thousand diagnosed with the disease and 2.4 per thousand residents died. Montana has been through two significant COVID-19 waves.

The first wave was largely associated with the Alpha variant. Between October and November, the state recorded over 1,000 new cases per day. The second wave differed in that a vaccine was largely available, but the more virulent Delta variant became the predominant cause of new cases and deaths among unvaccinated Montanans.

Since July, there have been about 42,000 Montanans hospitalized for COVTD-19, of which over 90% are unvaccinated according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using the same method as the Kaiser Family Foundation, this translates into a cost of $33.8 million in preventable COVID-related hospitalizations since July 1, 2021. This calculation does not include lost wages due to either hospitalization or caring for a sick relative or friend, nor does it include the cost of retrofitting hospitals to cope with the influx of COVID-19 patients. Moreover, according to recent research, roughly 25% of COVID-19 patients will have long COVID, which will have a long run economic impact.

Just like the rest of the sectors in the economy, health care has experienced a substantial number of workers leaving the field since the beginning of the pandemic. Figure la shows the total employment in Montana hospitals compared to the pre-COVID trend and Figure lb shows the same for health care and social assistance.

Compared to national trends, hospital employment looks relatively positive, but...