In the News

National Partnership for Dental Therapy

Reports indicate an estimated 11% reduction in national dental practice capacity caused by the shortage of dental assistants and dental hygienists in 2022, while the COVID-19 pandemic led to an approximate 8% decrease in dental hygienist employment. Furthermore, enrollment across the United States in dental assisting programs has faced a decrease since 2015 and research indicates that 1/3 of the dental assistant and dental hygienist workforce expect to retire in five years or less. As we work to authorize and implement dental therapists across the states, it is important to ensure there is a supportive working environment for them as well as other dental professionals.

…Some of the main factors that contribute to dental assistants’ and dental hygienists’ satisfaction are being valued, having opportunities to advance in their professional career, and having good communication with the team and with their supervisors. Jean Moore, DrPH, FAAN, Director of Center for Health Workforce Studies affirmed that similar research has corroborated that workforce issues are at least partly related to workplace culture. Their research shows that staff satisfaction is associated with being treated as partners, as people who have something to contribute, rather than as employees who merely receive orders.

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University at Albany

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 28, 2024) — Jean Moore is a research assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior and serves as the director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) at the School of Public Health. Moore has extensively studied health workforce supply, demand and distribution and more recently investigated pandemic impacts on the health workforce. She has also studied health professions regulation and its impact on access to care.

Established in 1996, the Center for Health Workforce Studies conducts research to support and promote health workforce planning and policymaking at local, state and national levels. It operates two of only nine federally-funded health workforce research centers in the U.S. and is the only Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-sponsored center with a unique focus on the oral health workforce.

CHWS shares its research findings with policymakers, planners, and health, professional and educational organizations to address issues related to the supply, demand, distribution and utilization of health workers.

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Democrat and Chronicle

James Tompkins abandoned his primary care search a year ago, as he faced months-long waits for a doctor visit within massive health systems seemingly designed to frustrate and mistreat New Yorkers.

Since then, the now 54-year-old Poughkeepsie man has passed tense months trying to dodge illness. At times, he turned to urgent cares for his minor medical needs, while leaving critical gaps in his overall health care.

His medical saga was among more than two dozen others that New Yorkers shared in response to USA TODAY Network New York coverage of the negative impacts of health care mergers…

…Today, a growing number of primary care doctors must become hospitalists caring for inpatients to make a living. It is a trend ignited by profit-driven health systems that favor lucrative specialty care and surgeries over community-based preventive medicine, according to University at Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies experts and data.

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7 News WKBW

BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — With a lack of mental health providers in underserved communities across the state, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is promoting bipartisan legislation to resolve the problem.

Flunder tells me Senator Gillibrand’s support for bipartisan legislation to expand The Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act, would offer student loan forgiveness to encourage mental health professionals to work in underserved communities.

“This field is already an expensive field. This is something that you constantly have to pour finances into,” Flunder explained.
 
“Basically, within six years all your student loans would be repaid. If you give six years of service in an underserved area,” described Gillibrand…

…Center for Health Workforce Studies says by the year 2030, New York is projecting a shortfall of as many as 2,600 psychiatrists, but if this bill is approved. It could have quick results.

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Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty

In a huge win for dental access in Wisconsin, a bill allowing the licensure of Dental Therapists in Wisconsin recently passed both houses of the legislature with bipartisan support…

…Minnesota provides a compelling example of successful dental therapy implementation. In 2009, the state created a dental therapy license. A 2020 study by the Center for Health Workforce Studies revealed that, since 2009, over 250,000 patients received care from dental therapists in Minnesota, and practices utilizing dental therapists experienced an increase in patient caseloads and gross revenue. This success demonstrates the potential for improving dental care accessibility and affordability through dental therapy. 

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Newsday

Long Island nursing schools are turning away students as they struggle to find enough instructors, exacerbating an already serious nursing shortage, experts say.

A wide gap between what nurses can earn teaching compared with working in health care facilities is a key reason, nursing school deans say. Fewer nurses per patient leads to a greater chance of patient harm, research shows…

…The clinical-training crunch is in part due to the nursing shortage, said Robert Martiniano, senior program manager of the University of Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies and co-author of a June report that found that nearly half of New York nursing programs rejected qualified applicants. Nurses often are too busy with patients to have enough time to help train students, he said.

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