Hospitals are facing a critical workforce shortage that will only get worse as the state’s population grows. A new report from the Wisconsin Hospital Association said that by 2010 hospitals will be competing with each other for a much smaller pool of workers to fill job vacancies.
The largest percentage of vacancies and the most difficult to fill are in therapist positions, according to the 2008 Health Care Workforce Report released Thursday by the WHA.
Slots for getting proper training fill quickly at colleges, so WHA Vice President Judy Warmuth said expanding slots in college training programs is critical to head off the anticipated shortage of health care professionals.