Long term care suffers major job loss due to pandemic
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The pandemic has caused many job shortages in different fields and long-term health care facilities have seen some of the worst of shortages since the pandemic started nationwide.
According to American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living report, nursing homes lost 220,000 jobs and assisted living communities lost 38,000 jobs since the pandemic started.
The same report shows other health sectors have fully recovered their staff with 70,000 jobs gained in physicians' offices and 57,000 jobs gained in outpatient care centers.
Mark Parkinson, president, and CEO of AHCA/NCAL stated in a press release sent to ABC 17 that these workforce challenges for nursing homes and assisted living communities could be attributable to multiple factors.
As many caregivers are getting burned out by the pandemic, workers are leaving the field for jobs in other health care settings or other industries altogether. Chronic Medicaid underfunding, combined with the billions of dollars providers have spent to fight the pandemic, have left long-term care providers struggling to compete for qualified staff. We desperately need the help of policymakers to attract and retain more caregivers, so that our nation’s most vulnerable have access to the long-term care they need.
Mark Parkinson, president, and CEO of AHCA/NCAL
According to another report from AHCA/NCAL, 86% of nursing homes and 77% of assisted living providers said their workforce situation has gotten worse between June and September.
