Healthcare

Background

The health care cluster, which includes all industries within the spectrum of acute, long-term, home health, personal and rehabilitative care, contributes over 37,000 jobs to Central Pennsylvania’s economy, which accounts for 15% of all jobs. This cluster has shown strong growth since 2000, increasing by over 5,000 jobs or 16%. General medical and surgical hospitals and nursing care facilities account for nearly half of the health care cluster employment.

As a major contributor to the economic base of Central Pennsylvania, as well as the quality of life, the health care industry continues to face issues associated with workforce availability and skill development along a diverse continuum of career opportunities. Although the needs may differ based on the workplace setting (e.g. hospitals, long term care, home health, rehabilitation centers, etc.), the Health Care Partnership recognizes that the human resource challenges facing one facility will ultimately affect the recruitment and retention issues of the industry in general.

Projections prepared by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis suggest that the health care and social assistance industry will grow by 13% (over 4,000 jobs) from 2004 through 2014 in Central Pennsylvania. An aging population will place a greater demand on health care, thus leading to the creation of new jobs. Furthermore, the demand for health care practitioners and technical occupations is projected to grow by 9% during the same time frame. In fact, 68% of the projected job openings (3,800 total job openings) will be due to replacement of workers as they leave the industry due to retirement or withdrawal for personal reasons. According to data provided by the US Census Bureau, 16% of workers in the health care & social assistance industry will be eligible for retirement in the next 10 years.

In the Healthcare industry cluster, over half of all employment is found across 20 occupations. While this does include nurses, home health aides, physicians, and other well known healthcare occupations, it also includes receptionists, office clerks, secretaries, and janitors. Depending on the job, some occupations often require on-the-job training, while other typically require 2- or 4-year degrees or more. Workers receive wages from below $10.00 per hour, to $30.00 or higher.

Mission

To promote collaboration, advocacy and workforce development to enhance the region’s healthcare industry.

Goals & Objectives

  • Share best practices and foster collaboration among health care providers
  • Sponsor regional training that enhances the ability to offer quality care
  • Increase the supply of qualified workers
  • Advocate on behalf of the industry for workforce development

Accomplishments

  • Customized training curriculum to meet industry needs
  • Fostered a retention culture among participating facilities through management and supervisory training
  • Supported development of inclusive workplaces through diversity training at management and supervisory levels
  • Supported quality improvement initiatives by sponsoring Lean healthcare training
  • Completed supply and demand gap analysis of key healthcare occupations

Current Projects

Occupational Practitioner Survey

CPWDC and the Healthcare Industry Partnership have identified several occupations that seem to be experiencing workforce shortages. Therefore, this survey is being administering to practitioners throughout a nine-county region. Information gleaned from this survey will help CPWDC and the Partnership develop policies to help employers identify and alleviate key nursing and alliedhealth shortages and develop marketing strategies to increase awareness about career opportunities in healthcare.

Healthcare Industry Partnership Sponsored Training Programs (contact CPWDC for more information):

Resources

Funded in part by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry