Health
Despite more grads, health care providers struggle to fill jobs
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By CORTNEY ERNDT
Capital News Service
LANSING – Health care providers are having trouble hiring although undergraduate degrees in health fields have doubled over the past eight years at the state’s 15 public universities. In fact, there’s not only a strong demand for health professionals across the state, but nationally, said Michigan Health Council President Anne Rosewarne. “We are very sure that there is some shortage,” Rosewarne said. Although there are more than 4,000 health care bachelor degrees earned each year at Michigan’s public universities, qualified candidates remain in demand, Rosewarne said. “Competition isn’t an issue,” Rosewarne said, “Most human resource departments have a really, really hard time finding candidates.”
Tracey Burtch, a public affairs manager at the Michigan Health and Hospital Association said the industry employs more than 558,000 people in the state, but a large number of physicians and nurses are reaching retirement age.