US Healthcare Workforce Shortage On Track To Nearly Double By 2040
The U.S. may be on the verge of a major health workforce crisis in the near future, according to analysts.
The U.S. may be on the verge of a major health workforce crisis in the near future, according to analysts.
Recent estimates from healthcare educator Covista expect the nation’s health workforce shortage to nearly double by 2040. Experts warned the Daily Caller News Foundation that a growing workforce gap across the U.S. healthcare system could result in lower quality medical care and limit patients’ access to some crucial services.
“By 2040, the U.S. could be short more than 2 million healthcare workers,” Covista Chief Growth and Innovation Officer Michael Betz told the DCNF. “The shortage could cost the average American household up to $1,250 a year and put significant strain on the healthcare system. Rural and underserved communities would feel it first and hardest.”
“The gap isn’t inevitable, though. If educators, policymakers, and health system leaders work together, we can nearly close it and build a more efficient system that serves Americans better,” Betz continued. “At its core, the healthcare workforce gap is structural. Demand for healthcare workers is growing faster than our ability to train them and get them into the workforce.”
Covista’s research suggests that solving the nation’s nursing shortage could save nearly 100,000 lives cumulatively by 2040, while fixing the physician gap could add more than six months to patients’ average life expectancy.
Americans may have limited access to care if the physician workforce gap continues to grow, according to Michael Dill, director of workforce studies at the Association of American Medical Colleges.