This report provides information drawn from a variety of data sources to describe and analyze New York State’s health workforce. The report includes primary data collected by CHWS on registered nurse (RN) education and on healthcare workforce recruitment and retention challenges in New York State. A key goal of this report is to assist policy makers and other stakeholders with:
- Addressing the most pressing healthcare workforce needs
- Making informed decisions on healthcare workforce education and job training investments
- Guiding health workforce policies, including decisions related to the capacity of health profession education programs
- Informing current and prospective students about profession-specific healthcare employment prospects and opportunities
Citation: Martiniano R, Roye T, Desai K, Harun N, Allegretti M. The Healthcare Workforce in New York State: Trends in the Supply of and Demand for Health Workers. Center for Health Workforce Studies, College of Integrated Health Sciences, University at Albany; 2026.
Findings from our annual survey of deans and directors of New York’s registered nurse (RN) education programs are now available in our recent RN education report. In addition to the 2025 survey results, this report documents trends in RN production at regional and state levels. Nursing faculty vacancies were a key reason why both BSN and ADN programs had to turn away qualified applicants, 72% and 50% respectively. Fifty-six percent indicated that it was also due to shortages of clinical training sites and program caps on admissions. While the number of new RN graduations has remained steady between 2020 and 2024, there is uncertainty about whether the number of new RNs produced will be sufficient to meet future demand.
The HWRCs’ 2025 Annual Report captures the work conducted by the federally-funded HWRCs throughout the past year. This report documents a year of impactful research and collaborative problem-solving aimed at ensuring the US health workforce is well-prepared, well-distributed, and equipped to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
This report analyzes responses from an annual survey of over 2,300 residents and fellows completing training in New York, conducted in the spring and summer of 2024. Key findings include:
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In-state retention is on the rise; a steady increase from 45% in 2015 to 52% in 2024
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Few new physicians plan to practice in underserved areas, including rural areas and health professional shortage areas (HPSAs)
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There is strong demand for select specialties among new physicians in New York
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Rural health and access to care has been a concern to health care providers and policymakers for many years. The daunting combination of a scarcity of health care resources; enduring poverty; and challenges related to education, technology, transportation, and infrastructure have resulted in widespread and growing health disparities for people living in rural areas, relative to their urban neighbors. Gaetano Forte and the AAMC Research and Action Institute have published a paper1 on these challenges. Efforts to ensure an adequate health workforce to address rural health needs have achieved mixed outcomes — recruitment has increased, yet rural health disparities remain. Most public policy focuses on recruiting providers to work in these underserved communities. In this paper, Gaetano Forte presents data from New York to illustrate the outcomes of these efforts and suggest potential avenues to enhance these outcomes and better address rural health disparities. While the data show New York’s efforts to be highly successful in recruiting providers into rural areas, the lesson learned is that additional measures are needed.
Citation: Forte G. Current Approaches to Rural Health Workforce Challenges Need Improvement. AAMC Research and Action Institute (AAMC Website). Published online May 1, 2025. https://www.aamcresearchinstitute.org/our-work/issue-brief/rural-health-workforce-challenges-need-improvement
Over the past decade, an increasing number of states and organizations have been collecting health workforce data. Consistent and reliable data collection is essential for effective health workforce planning, as it serves several key purposes:
Supply Data: Provides insights into the availability and distribution of health care professionals, informs supply-and-demand forecasting models, and supports the development of workforce programs and policies
Demand Data: Helps identify workforce shortages and anticipate future needs
Education Pipeline Data: Offers early indicators of potential disruptions in the pipeline of new health care professionals, aiding long-term planning
To facilitate these efforts, the Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center (HWTAC) conducts an ongoing survey of states to gather information about their health workforce data collection and analysis activities. This brief highlights findings from this survey to date.
Citation: Armstrong D, Pang J, Shirey S. Health Workforce Data Collection in the United States. Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, College of Integrated Health Sciences; February, 2025.
For over 20 years, the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) has conducted annual surveys of the deans and directors of New York’s registered nurse (RN) education programs. The survey asks about nursing program applications, admissions, faculty issues, barriers to expanding nursing program capacity, and respondents’ assessment of the local job market for newly trained RNs. In addition to presenting results from the 2023 survey, this report documents trends in RN production at regional and state levels using graduation data provided by the New York State Education Department, with missing data supplemented by other sources.
Citation: Martiniano R, Shirey S. Trends in New York Registered Nurse Graduations, 2014-2023. Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, College of Integrated Health Sciences; 2024.
This report highlights major access barriers to oral health services for adults in New York. By examining the unique challenges New Yorkers face in obtaining necessary oral health services, the report provides evidence-based insights for policymakers and stakeholders to develop strategies that reduce oral health disparities and improve access to care, particularly for historically underserved populations.
Citation: Surdu S, Sasaki N, Pang J, Moore J. Consumer Survey Focused on Experiences Accessing Oral Health Services in New York State. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, College of Integrated Health Sciences; October 2024.
The HWRCs’ 2024 Annual Report captures the work conducted by the federally-funded HWRCs throughout the past year. The research studies highlight the continued impact of COVID-19 on the health workforce, including topics such as burnout, telehealth, staffing trends and turnover, and strategies to recruit and retain health workers.
This report summarizes health workforce recruitment and retention difficulties reported by providers across health care settings in New York State, including documenting the reasons for these difficulties. The report also summarizes strategies that health care providers are using to address these difficulties.
Citation: Martiniano R, Sage S. Health Care Worker Recruitment and Retention in New York State: What Are the Issues?. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, College of Integrated Health Sciences; September 2024.
