An updated report from Michigan Health Council (MHC) in Lansing says the state will face a shortage of more than 170,000 home health and personal care aides within the next decade.
This year’s edition of the Michigan Healthcare Workforce Index, a comprehensive report launched in 2023 that assesses the outlook of 36 health care jobs in the state, found that nearly all health care occupations are projected to experience workforce shortages between now and 2033.
“This data points to a growing health care workforce crisis for Michigan — one that demands data-driven intervention from state leaders,” says Craig Donahue, president and CEO of MHC. “The Index helped confirm what we’ve known anecdotally for years. Now we need to identify and support solutions.
“Our hope is that decision-makers use this report to inform how to invest limited time and resources for maximum impact. We believe that the insights and analysis gleaned from the index will spark informed discussions about the best ways to build Michigan’s health care workforce capacity.”
The index sheds light on the occupations by calculating projections based on four variables:
- Growth: The percentage each occupation is expected to grow over the next 10 years
- Wage: The occupation’s 2022 median wage and 2012 median wage were combined to determine by what percentage the occupation’s wage had increased (or decreased) over 10 years
- Turnover: The level of movement taking place in the occupation
- Shortage: A comparison of how many openings an occupation is expected to have over the next 10 years to the educational supply
The “healthiest” occupation over the next 10 years is projected to be optometrists, while nursing assistants are projected as the “least” healthy. Compared to last year’s index, mental health occupations requiring a Master of Social Work dropped 12 spots due to a 6-percentage-point decline in wage growth between 2012 and 2022.
The report also found that while registered nurses ranked in the middle and licensed practical nurses ranked near the top of the index, the state is facing a shortage of more than 4,000 nurses over the next decade. Only four occupations are projected to have a surplus between 2023 and 2033 — diagnostic medical sonographers, dentists, radiation therapists, and child, family, and school social workers. Even with a surplus, however, these occupations can be poorly distributed across Michigan, leading to challenges in access to care despite the surplus.
“The 2024 Michigan Healthcare Workforce Index is a vital, unbiased tool to help stakeholders and policymakers understand the current health care workforce landscape and build the health care workforce of the future,” says Ruthanne Sudderth, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.
The index is part of MHC’s ongoing work to catalyze data on health care workforce gaps into actionable talent solutions accessible to organizations statewide. A plan to address prioritized gaps, as well as briefing documents helping stakeholders execute the plan, are slated for development later this year. This work is supported by a grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.
To view the entire report, visit here.
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