JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KMOX) - The Missouri Hospital Association says the ongoing staff shortage in the health care system continues to be an immediate and long-term threat.
The Association's Dave Dillon says there's a significant challenge meeting personnel needs, "all the way from the most clinical folks who provide services right by the bedside, all the way down through the organizations into folks who do housekeeping or dietary."
Dillon says it's been compounded by the so-called "great resignation" when many experienced staffer left the industry. "Our vacancy rates are up by almost 100%." Dillon points out, those are openings the hospital industry is trying to fill. That is different than turnover, "turnover rates are astronomical. It is as much as a quarter of the workforce turning over."
Dillon says the shortage is making it difficult to provide adequate levels of care. "Having our organizations fully staffed, or least staffed in an appropriate way to provide that lifesaving care is absolutely essential to Missourians and it is becoming very difficult to do."
He says at the same time the pandemic triggered an exodus of experienced workers -- the education pipeline for new entrants was disrupted by COVID.
Dillon says hospitals will have to be creative until the gap in certified professional can be filled. And he adds, hospitals will also need to provide competitive wages and benefits to lure support workers from other service industries.
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