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High school grads target
for healthcare careers
 Living
in South Dakota means living a rural life. With only two metropolitan
statistical areas, Sioux Falls and Rapid City, the state is
an outdoor lover's dream. But it can also be a nightmare for
healthcare recruiters. Dave Hewett, president and chief executive
officer of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations
in Sioux Falls, knows that South Dakota has plenty to offer.
However, convincing others is not so easy. "We are seeing
worker shortages in several areas," Hewett explains.
"How we get through this depends on the future ability
of South Dakota healthcare providers to compete with other
areas of the country in wages and benefits." The relatively
low population of South Dakota can create additional challenges.
"We have a low unemployment rate," Hewett shares.
"It's been as low as 2.1 percent. There are fewer than
10,000 people in the state available for work. It's not what
you would call a very large labor pool."
According
to the latest census, South Dakota is an aging state. The
number of children ages 0-9 declined 6.8 percent between 1990
and 2000, and the number of residents age 75 and older increased
12.9 percent. The amount of elderly residents is expected
to grow even larger as the Baby Boomer generation, which accounts
for about 28 percent of the state's population, reaches retirement
age. South Dakota recognizes that to properly care for its
aging citizens, it needs to focus on ways to keep younger
people from leaving. Healthcare organizations are targeting
recruiting tasks toward new graduates. They are talking to
high-school seniors and keeping a close eye on them as they
go through college. It is important that the state retains
as many of its healthcare graduates as possible. "The
University of South Dakota has a medical school that helps
place primary-care physicians in South Dakota," Hewett
relates. "In many respects, we have to grow our own."
The
good news for healthcare organizations in South Dakota is
that they are typically an employer of choice in rural communities.
"The hospital is often the largest employer in the community,"
Hewett shares. "People respect that fact. They consider
it an honor to have a hospital in the community." The
organizations offer good benefits, which can be especially
attractive to someone whose spouse is a farmer or rancher.
The bad news is that a community often lives or dies by its
hospital. If the largest employer isn't doing well, then the
rest of the area is bound to suffer. "One of the challenges
is the fact that our hospitals and nursing facilities, particularly
rural facilities, do a lot of business with Medicare and Medicaid.
When those get cut, it hurts the ability to pay wages."
Some
of the positions that hospitals and other healthcare organizations
are heavily recruiting for in the state include pharmacists,
respiratory therapists and certified nursing assistants. Nursing
is an area of particular need. As a result, the state Board
of Regents recently formed a task force, and the South Dakota
Association of Healthcare Organizations has created its own
work group to address the issue. By taking steps to combat
the problem, South Dakota is among a growing number of states
that recognize that the healthcare shortages will not just
go away. It will take a concerted effort from private and
public organizations to make sure the situation does not get
worse.
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