Opinion: Workforce Growth Essential for Health Reform
"For years, researchers, economists and health providers themselves have warned that much of [California] will have too few health workers for patients who need care," Catherine Dower -- associate director of research at the Center for the Health Professions at UC-San Francisco -- and Barbara Halsey, executive director of the California Workforce Association, write in a Capitol Weekly opinion piece. They note that under the federal health reform law, "four to six million more Californians are expected to have insurance starting in 2014," which "will strain a system already struggling to keep up with demand for physicians, nurses and allied health professions." Dower and Halsey offered several recommendations, such as creating programs in regions facing health care worker shortages, making full use of existing workers, boosting training retention and improving cultural competency. They conclude, "Health reform should force a conversation -- and action -- about the workforce storm clouds on our horizon."
- "Opinion: A Critical Issue in Health Care Reform: Too Few Health Workers" (Dower/Halsey, Capitol Weekly, 12/1).