Report: State faces shortage of nurses, doctors, dentists

Keith Mueller, Ph.D.

A two-year examination of Nebraska’s health care workforce shows a critical need to remedy a shortage of health care professionals.

The report analyzed the current workforce — physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, primary care providers, allied health, public health and mental health professionals. It projected future needs and determined shortages in various fields and geographic areas.

“We face a looming crisis in the number of health care workers and the professionals we have are not distributed across the state in the same way as our population,” said Keith Mueller, Ph.D., professor in UNMC’s College of Public Health and director of the Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research (NCRHR), which conducted the study.

The report showed that Nebraska faces significant shortages in several fields and also has an aging health care work force (See table on the right).

Study numbers Below are some figures from the recent report of Nebraska’s health care workforce. Fifty of Nebraska’s 93 counties are currently designated primary care Health Professional Shortage Areas; Forty-five of Nebraska’s 93 counties have some level of nursing shortages; Eighty-eight counties are federally designated mental health shortage areas; More than one-third (35.8 percent) of doctors are older than 50; About one-third (33.6 percent) of nurses are older than 50; Forty-percent of pharmacists are older than 50; About 50 percent of dentists are older than 50 years; and Rural Nebraska has a higher proportion of pre-retirement age workers. See the full report online.

While the aging workforce is a top concern, the impact of health care reform would accelerate the need for more health care professionals, Dr. Mueller said.

“Nebraska faces an explosion of aging patients but if we begin providing coverage for thousands of uninsured patients, it could push the need for primary care providers to urgent levels,” he said. “We’re not ready. Neither are any other states.”

The report will serve as a guide for state policy makers to address future shortages, Dr. Mueller said.

It will soon be presented to state health officials and the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.

Some of the recommendations from the NCRHR include:

• Create a state health workforce center;
  
• Expand the role of pipeline (recruitment) programs aimed at provider shortage; areas; and
  
• Increase funding for current debt relief programs aimed at new graduates.

The $100,000 project was funded by the Larson Medical Research Fund through the University of Nebraska Foundation and included input from key stakeholders.