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System addresses healthcare worker shortage
March 6, 2006
Hospitals and healthcare providers face a critical and growing issue
that has the potential to impact care for all citizens who need
their services – a shortage of well-prepared healthcare technicians
in Allied Health career fields.
South Carolina healthcare providers currently need to fill more
than 2,000 nursing and other health care technician positions each
year due to expansion and retirements. Many hospitals are forced
to recruit nurses from out of state and in some cases, from outside
the United States. In 2004 alone, hospitals spent $74 million in
salary and per diems for traveling nurses and temporary staff.
This healthcare workforce shortage represents an opportunity to
put more South Carolinians to work in jobs with salaries that start
between $30,000 and $45,000 per year. Ultimately, this is an issue
that impacts South Carolina’s per capita income, which is
only $27,153 (18% below the national average), and overall quality
of life for all state residents, a critical factor when businesses
and industries analyze our state.
Barriers to success…
South Carolina’s educational infrastructure is operating at
its capacity to educate students to fill the number of jobs that
open each year. The technical colleges do not lack for students
who desire to enter the healthcare professions. What they lack is
the capacity to increase the number of students in allied health
programs.
Contributing factors to capacity bottlenecks include a shortage
of qualified faculty, the high cost of instructional equipment,
a shortage of instructional space and the limited number of clinical
slots available.
A statewide solution...
The technical colleges are committed to a coordinated approach that
responds to the critical need for more qualified health care workers.
In order to respond to the workforce needs, the technical colleges
request $15,000,000 in recurring funds to increase the number of
graduates from allied health programs statewide.
This appropriation represents half of the proposed $30 million cost
needed to expand and enhance programs. The balance will be provided
through existing and ongoing collaboration with health care providers,
tuition, local funds, economies of scale, and continuing administrative
efficiencies.
Each of the 16 technical colleges will have an opportunity to participate
in the initiative. The colleges have developed ideas on how to produce
more graduates to meet the needs of their local service areas. Each
college has presented a full proposal that includes detailed information
on local needs, projects, budgets, and other sources of funding
(view/download those proposals by clicking on the menu link at the
left).
The needs at each college vary. Those implementing new programs
will need to develop curricula, hire faculty, renovate space, and
purchase equipment. Expanding current capacity may mean the college
only needs to hire new faculty members to increase program enrollment.
Yet others intend to implement measures to facilitate increases
in retention and graduation rates, which will increase the number
of graduates as effectively as adding new student slots. The uses
of the funds will be as diverse as local area needs, but each targets
at least one of the following purposes:
Graduation/Retention Efforts
By improving instructional materials, lowering student-faculty ratios,
implementing state-of-the art equipment currently used in the health
care field, and delivering education in more convenient ways, colleges
will work to retain and graduate more students.
The sample projects proposed by the technical colleges will have
an impact on nearly 7,500 students – approximately 36% of
the health care student body.
New Enrollment
Many institutions intend to use project funds to develop new programs
or expand enrollment in nursing and the health sciences. In most
cases, funds will provide the needed faculty and equipment for the
high-tech learning environment.
The sample projects proposed by the technical colleges will leverage
state funds, in combination with other college efforts and revenue
sources, and could increase health science enrollment by approximately
1,250 students.
For further information, contact Joren Bartlett at bartlett@sctechsystem.com
or visit the SC Technical College System website at www.sctechsystem.com.
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