Locally, hospitals report shortages of licensed practical nurses, some registered nurses, nursing assistants and aides, pharmacy personnel, information technology staff and medical technologists. Doctors' offices and clinics, nursing and personal care facilities, home health and mental health organizations say they don't have enough registered nurses, nursing assistants, clerical and custodial staff, dental hygienists and information technology workers. And the problem is expected to become worse. Demand for health services is anticipated to grow as baby boomers age, incomes rise and the population lives longer, filling hospitals and nursing homes with the sickest people. There is stiff competition with other industries for people who would fill the lowest-paid health care positions, particularly those that don't require licensing, registration or certifications, said Marc Cammarata, senior vice president of human resources for the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania and a technical advisor for yesterday's event.
Wages are an issue.
Operating margins are virtually nonexistent in Western Pennsylvania hospitals, so you're dealing with very little in the way of money to spend on signing bonuses or recruitment incentives. If there's a way out, it has to be some other solution. Karen Wolk Feinstein, president of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and chair of yesterday's summit, said over the long term, the whole health care system needs to be overhauled and made more efficient. The conference included sessions on finding, training and retraining workers, improving their efficiency, productivity and job satisfaction, and tracking data that could more closely tie the industry's needs to solutions. Judith Lave, a health economist at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health, said there also are immediate changes that can be made to improve the work climate.