03/08/10 – Colorado Rural Health Center Receives Grant to Strengthen the State's Health Care Workforce
by Laurel PetraliaProgram Officer, The Colorado Trust
A lot of dedicated people have been hard at work for decades attempting to tackle the persistent problem of too few health care providers. What's new and much needed is the resolve of a broad group to proactively work together to address this complex issue. With more than 30 members, the Colorado Health Professions Workforce Policy Collaborative is developing policy solutions to close the health professions gap. To strengthen and sustain this grassroots effort, The Colorado Trust awarded a grant to the Colorado Rural Health Center to lead the Collaborative.
According to the Colorado Health Institute, we have an 11% shortage of nurses statewide, and it's expected that this shortage will triple by 2020. As well, the number of health care jobs in Colorado is expected to grow by 20% over the next 10 years, even as the number of health care workers is expected to shrink by 17% as aging workers retire. This shortage extends across many health care professions, including physicians, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, dental hygienists, physician assistants and physical therapists. Perhaps of greatest concern is a predicted shortage of nearly 2,200 primary care providers in Colorado by 2025 if current trends continue.
The shortage of primary care physicians is the one that the Collaborative addressed first. Collaborative members, including nurses, doctors and other health professionals, higher education institutions, state health and labor agencies, developed a first series of policy recommendations that include adequate reimbursement for primary care providers, coordinating training programs and more. To learn more about the work of the Collaborative and its current priorities, contact Lou Ann Wilroy, Chief Executive Officer, Colorado Rural Health Center, 303.832.7493.
