A Staffing Crisis for the Health Care Industry.

• Author: BAILEY, ALAN

There aren't enough skilled workers available to fill the needs of medical institutions.

An increasing shortage of nurses and other skilled health care staff threatens to erode the quality of the health services in Alaska. The health care staffing shortage, a worldwide phenomenon, has reached crisis proportions in parts of the United States and is now starting to impact Alaska.

Data from the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association confirms that there is an overall nursing shortage in Alaska hospitals and medical centers. This data shows a 10 percent vacancy rate for registered nurses and licensed practicing nurses, and a 7 percent vacancy rate for certified nursing assistants.

"Our peers in the Lower 48 began experiencing this shortage a little earlier than we did," said Pat Fradley, chief nursing officer at Alaska Regional Hospital. "... we're definitely feeling the pinch."

Growth Fuels Staff Demand

Staff shortages partly result from the rapid growth of the health care industry. "(The health services) are big and have been growing fast for a long time," said Neal Fried, labor economist for the State of Alaska.

Fried believes that the rapid expansion of the health care industry in Alaska stems from the aging demographics of the population and the availability of new medical technology. Fried also thinks that Alaskans increasingly seek medical treatment within the state, rather than traveling out of state.

The widening diversity of medical services is also driving an increased demand for staff. "The health care system is becoming more and more complex, more and more diffuse, in terms of the kinds of services and different kinds of facilities that are available," said Dr. Brian Saylor, associate vice provost for health affairs and research at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

An Aging Work Force

At the same time that the demand for health care staff is increasing, the healthcare work force is aging. According to Mardy Lower, staffing manager at Providence Alaska Medical Center, the average age of a nurse today is 44. "By 2010 we're going to be looking at about 40 percent of our nursing work force being over 50," Lower said.

Dr. Tina DeLapp, director of the school of nursing at the University of Alaska Anchorage, commented that the physical demands of nursing place an increasing strain on the older staff. "Within the next 10 to 15 years approximately 15 percent of the nursing work force is going to retire," she said.

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