The Arizona Healthcare Workforce Shortage
A healthcare workforce shortage refers to a situation in which there are not enough qualified healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, allied health providers, and support staff, to meet the healthcare needs of the population. This shortage can occur at various levels, such as locally, regionally, or nationally.
Shortages can result from a variety of factors, including population growth, an aging population, increased demand for healthcare services, insufficient training and education programs, and geographic maldistribution of healthcare providers. The consequences of a healthcare workforce shortage can include longer wait times for medical appointments, reduced access to healthcare services, overworked healthcare providers, and a decrease in the quality of patient care.
The Arizona healthcare system has faced an ongoing shortage of healthcare personnel for the past twenty years. The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated this shortage in all areas of healthcare.
Arizona ranks #9 in the nation as having the most health professional shortage areas (HPSA).
- Out of 126 primary care HPSAs in Arizona, 82 or 65% are designated medically underserved.
Twenty-nine have a population-to-primary care physician ratio of greater than 5,000:1 or no primary care physician at all.
By 2032 it is predicted, with the current population growth, Arizona will be short 4,679 registered nurses, 412 nurse practitioners, and 4,131 physicians.
Arizona has fallen below the national average of workers in almost all healthcare professions.
Nursing Shortages
Arizona currently ranks in the top five states experiencing the most severe nursing shortage, due to a combination of employee burnout, a large number of nurses retiring, and a lack of trained nurses to replace those leaving the workplace.
In Arizona, enrollment at nursing schools is not growing fast enough to keep up with the state's demand. Nationwide in 2020 80,521 qualified applicants were turned away from nursing schools due to a lack of space.
Hospital turnover rates are at an all-time high, with 23.9% of new RNs leaving their current position within the first year.
The nursing shortage affects the quality of care staff is able to provide.
Physician Shortages
Arizona is currently only meeting 40% of its primary care physician needs.
The Health Resources and Services Administration estimates Arizona needs 558 more primary care physicians to meet its current need. Arizona will also need 1,941 more primary care physicians by 2030.
Arizona's rural areas are disproportionally affected by these staffing shortages.
While Arizona is the 14th most populous state in the nation. It has only 77.9 active primary care physicians per 100,000 population, putting the state at 42nd in the nation for provider-to-population ratio.
Sources
Arizona Primary Care Needs Assessment. (2021, March). Bureau of Women's and Children's Health Arizona Department of Health Services. https://www.azdhs.gov/documents/prevention/health-systems-development/data-reports-maps/reports/primary-care-needs-assessment-final.pdf.
Arizona Primary Care Physician Workforce Report. (2019). The Arizona Center for Rural Health. https://crh.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2022-04/20191010_AZ_PCP_Workforce_Report_Final.pdf.
Hilton Lisette. (2022, March 2). Nursing Schools Report Hurdles to Expanding Enrollment. Nurse.com. https://www.nurse.com/blog/nursing-schools-report-hurdles-to-expanding-enrollment/#:~:text=Though%20interest%20in%20nursing%20programs,resource%20constraints%2C%20according%20to%20AACN.
Muoio, Dave. (2023, April 14). About 800,000 Nurses Planning to Leave the Profession by 2027, Data Shows. Fierce Healthcare. https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/about-800000-nurses-planning-leave-profession-2027-data-show-0.
Popwitz, Ethan. (2023). Addressing the Healthcare Staffing Shortage. Definitive Healthcare. https://www.definitivehc.com/sites/default/files/resources/pdfs/Addressing-the_healthcare-staffing-shortage.pdf.
Sanborn, H & Cato, D. (2022, May 14). How does Arizona Solve its Nursing Shortage? By Fixing a Giant Training Bottleneck. AzCentral. https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2022/05/14/arizona-has-nursing-shortage-and-giant-training-bottleneck/9707683002/.
The U.S. Nursing Shortage: A State-by-State Breakdown. (2023, August 28). Nurse Journal. https://nursejournal.org/articles/the-us-nursing-shortage-state-by-state-breakdown/.
2021 State Physician Workforce Data Report. (2022). Association of American Medical Colleges. https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/workforce/report/state-physician-workforce-data-report.