A Growing Crisis for American Health Care

In the coming years, growth in senior populations, combined with the retirement of Baby Boomers who currently provide nursing and medical services, is expected to create a significant shortfall in the number of allied health professionals nationwide.  Data over the last several years demonstrate that, although allied health professions provide quality jobs to millions of Americans, there is an unmet – and growing – need for additional health professionals.

Allied Health Professions Provide Quality Jobs

• The largest American industry, health care employs 13.5 million workers, including more than 2.9 million nurses and 3.3 million workers categorized into health support professions.
• Private allied health schools provide educational opportunities in fields that currently employ more than half of all health support occupations:
  • Home health aides – more than 600,000 jobs nationwide
  • Nursing aides – almost 1,400,000 jobs
  • Medical and dental assistants – nearly 640,000 jobs combined

Allied Health Professions Impact Health Care Quality

• One quarter of all unexpected events leading to patient death, injury, or permanent loss of function are the result of inadequate staffing levels, according to a 2002 study by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).
• A National Institutes of Health study found that increased staff-patient ratios can significantly reduce the probability of the onset of adverse health events, specifically the onset of pneumonia.

A Burgeoning Demand for Allied Health Professionals

• During the next 25 years, the number of Americans over age 65 will increase at five times the rate of the under-65 population – a trend which indicates a growing need for health services.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by 2014, the health care industry will need an additional 4,295,000 workers to meet nationwide demand.
• Allied health professions are expected to require millions of additional workers to meet nationwide demand, and the largest needs will be in fields where private allied health schools provide training programs:
  • More than 350,000 new home health aides – an increase of 56%
  • More than 311,000 new nursing aides
  • More than 306,000 new medical and dental assistants

Traditional Allied Health Schools Are Turning Students Away

• In 2004, traditional schools of nursing turned away 146,000 qualified applicants nationwide, largely due to faculty shortages.
• More than half of current faculty at traditional schools are expected to retire in the next 15 years, and many institutions lack a sufficient pool of replacement faculty.

These trends could have damaging consequences on America’s ability to recruit and train quality health care workers.

Because the training capacity within the traditional higher education community cannot meet the growing demands which demographic trends will place on the American health care system, private allied health schools will fill a critical role in recruiting, educating, and retaining quality allied health professionals.