Can a shortage of health care workers be addressed? Industry leaders weigh in on UWM panel
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Can a shortage of health care workers be fixed? That's what a panel of industry leaders discussed on the UW-Milwaukee campus Thursday.
The event comes as the state is already experiencing a punishing shortage of providers and those in the profession warned it's only going to get worse.
The problem: more experienced workers are retiring, younger workers are leaving due to burnout during the pandemic, all while the needs of our aging population increases at a much faster pace.
"We still have the entire baby boomer generation that are going to need care," Nicole Pretre, president and CEO of Cedar Community, said at the event hosted by WisPolitics, WisBusiness and UWM. "So, the situation is we don't have a population to take care of the coming population, the numbers are not there.
It comes as the U.S. faces a projected shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians within the next 11 years.
According to a 2020 survey, of the 91,000 registered nurses in Wisconsin, 23% reported they intend to leave nursing within the next five years and 44% within 10 years, according to the Wisconsin Center for Nursing.
However, there is optimism and solutions, which the panel addressed. Industry leaders said investments are crucial in areas such as nursing programs and telemedicine, but they also stressed the need for structural changes to make the profession more attractive.
"A key part of this is identifying groups. We can actually maximize opportunity for them- like middle school, high school- and creating an environment where people feel I want to be in this field, this is something appealing to me," said Leonard Egede, MD, Professor of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin.
Senator Patrick Testin (Stevens Point), who participated on the panel and currently serves as the vice chair of the Senate Health Committee, said regulatory reforms are also key to hiring and retaining workers.
"People don't become doctors and nurses to do paperwork and computer work 24 hours a day. They want to be there to help patients, so I think this is an area where we have a huge opportunity to make inroads."
In the current biennium, which is set to expire June 30, lawmakers made investments in telehealth, rural health care and nursing homes, among other things.
On Wednesday, Governor Tony Evers is set to unveil his budget proposal at a time the state is sitting on a projected $6.9 billion -- which is good news for lawmakers. The bad news is that many industries are fighting for a piece of that.
Over the next several weeks, lawmakers on the budget committee will work to rewrite the state budget.