Health care leaders speak out about attracting more workers to the industry
In a webinar this afternoon, folks in the fields of education, medical and state government came to a consensus, they want to see more people choosing health care as a career option.
Posted: Jan 27, 2021 9:51 PM
Updated: Jan 28, 2021 6:50 AM
Posted By: Nick Kruszalnicki
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Governor Tim Walz is declaring January Health Care Month.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is saying health care accounts for 17% of jobs in the state. Now the state government wants more people to join the growing industry.
In a webinar this afternoon, folks in the fields of education, medical and state government came to a consensus, they want to see more people choosing health care as a career option.
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The number of people working in health care Minnesota s largest industry by worker head count typically grows 2.7% between January and December.
But at the end of 2020, the state had 367,000 employees in its hospitals, nursing homes, doctor s offices and walk-in clinics, a decline of 10,000 since the start of the year, state employment data released Thursday show.
The same pattern held at the national level. The 19.9 million Americans working in health care and social-assistance jobs in December represented a decline of about 780,000 since January, the first such decline in federal labor data going back to 1990. It s a paradox in a way, because some areas had an intense uptick in demand, but anything that could be viewed as elective . dropped in demand a lot. So it really shocked the system, said Anthony Schaffhauser, health care workforce development director at HealthForce Minnesota.
Health care employs 478,485 people in Minnesota, the largest workforce by sector in the state, accounting for $25.7 billion in wages in 2019. The key role of the health care
Steve Grove: Health care industry, employees are critical to the state
Gov. Walz proclaimed January Health Care Month to highlight the critical importance of Minnesota’s health care industry to our economy.
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Steve Grove | ×
If there’s one thing that the coronavirus pandemic has shown us, it’s the importance of the health care industry. Health care workers not only save lives, they’re a critical driver of the Minnesota economy. Perhaps nowhere is that more apparent than in the Rochester area, where health care makes up a larger percentage of total employment than it does in any other region of the state.