OPINION: The U.S health care workforce is understaffed for the post pandemic situation io

The health care workforce is understaffed for life after Covid-19 - STAT Too few medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, and others in the health care workforce will complicate post-Covid medical care. Patrick Skerrett STAT

As the U.S. gradually unburies itself from the Covid-19 pandemic, some people have been sounding the alarm about looming shortages of physicians and nurses. They should be equally worried about shortages of others in the health care workforce, like medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, dental assistants, and more.

When many states and local jurisdictions began mandating stay-at-home orders, Americans began canceling regular checkups and visits to their health care providers for managing chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. Similarly, medical offices began deferring elective services and limiting their office hours and even staff.

While many doctors, nurses, and other health care providers were able to continue seeing their patients via telehealth during the pandemic, many entry-level people in the health care workforce, like medical assistants, were among the first to disappear — partly due to the reduced utilization of medical services and partly due to the need to socially distance and limit staff. Others had their work hours reduced or were laid off.

Now that vaccination rates are on the rise and a semblance of normalcy begins to emerge, Americans will be returning to their health care providers’ offices. This will undeniably lead to a huge spike in demand for health care workers — both clinical and administrative staff — who help keep the health care system running.

As medical offices and health care facilities try to staff back up, many will face difficulties. During the pandemic, many in the health care workforce had no choice but to find new careers and employment, particularly those working in ambulatory care. While some may return, others may not.

Now that vaccination rates are on the rise and a semblance of normalcy begins to emerge, Americans will be returning to their health care providers’ offices. This will undeniably lead to a huge spike in demand for health care workers — both clinical and administrative staff — who help keep the health care system running.

Although about 50,000 jobs have been added to the health care sector since January, the U.S. will need more than 500,000 jobs to get back to pre-pandemic levels. This means that a lot of new workers will need to be trained to replace those who have left the workforce and increase staffing to meet the demand for health care services.

Despite this increased demand for health care workers, the pipeline of workers being prepared for these roles has slowed to a trickle. Continued, severe limitations on in-class learning, along with the high cost of tuition, have made education much more difficult to pursue for many low- and middle-wage workers and for those economically hit hardest by Covid-19.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse, enrollment in community colleges — where many enroll to enter the professional workforce for the first time or look to change career paths — was down 10% in 2020 compared to the previous year, with even sharper declines among first-generation immigrant, Black, Hispanic, and Native American students. Thus, those who stand to gain the most from a good entry-level job will have a harder time getting employment — further exacerbating existing socioeconomic and racial disparities.

What can be done about this?

One priority should be to support the nearly 15 million of Americans whose jobs were displaced by the pandemic and who are trying to reenter the workforce. With millions of Americans staying home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus and many jobs shifting to remote work, industries and professions in tourism, construction, hospitality, food service, manufacturing, and construction had some of the highest job losses during the pandemic. ...