That’s why it’s nice to keep up with online resources such as CareerBuilder.com to receive accurate career information relative to any career industry. 

Recently, CareerBuilder.com released a list of the fastest growing jobs in the health care industry. The list is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is a forecast of which health care careers will see the most growth in the next eight years. 

These aren’t small numbers we’re dealing with here. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that from 2008-2018, approximately 26 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S. economy will be in the health care and social assistance industry. It’s expected that upwards of four million jobs will be created in this time, the next closest service-oriented industry being professional, scientific and technical services with an expected 2.7 million jobs. 

Topping off the list of fastest growing jobs in health care are physician assistants with a predicted 41.3 percent increase from 2008-2018. Other top careers include medical secretaries, physicians/surgeons, registered nurses and counselors. 

Overall, health care careers have continued to yield a number of benefits. In addition to being well-paying jobs, hospitals and clinics are great environments in which to grow a career and seek leadership roles. The need for these positions is prevalent across Iowa, which gives many young people and families the option to choose where they want to live and work. From their community’s perspective, individuals in health care careers are especially beneficial to helping sustain the local economy. 

Click the link below to read the full article courtesy of MSN: 

Fastest Growing Jobs in Health Care

• In Iowa, hospitals now employ more than 74,000 people.  In most counties where there are hospitals, the hospital (or hospitals) are among the five largest employers – and often the number-one employer.  Even in major cities with multiple large employers, hospitals dominate.  In Des Moines, hospitals employ more people than Principal and Wellmark combined.  Hospitals in Davenport provide more jobs than even the gigantic John Deere plant.  In Council Bluffs, the Ameristar Casino is the city’s biggest single employer, but the combined workforces of the two local hospitals are much bigger. 
• These are not ordinary jobs.  Most hospital jobs require a college degree and/or specialized training and offer pay that is commensurate with that advanced education.  Because they each have a large workforce, hospitals are places where careers can be grown and leaders are created (and hospitals will typically assist employees who want to further their education).  This means hospitals are important weapons against Iowa’s persistent “brain drain,” because they are employers that attract young workers and families and help keep them in the community for the long-term. 
• Hospitals are more than the people they employ and the wages they pay as their economic impact ripples out into the community.  In Iowa, this multiplier effect creates thousands of jobs worth billions of dollars.  Hospitals buy products that support local businesses.  They support local charities and community programs with dollars, manpower and expertise that few other organizations can muster.  Hospital employees are a huge market that helps keep local dollars in the local economy.  They buy groceries, cars, fuel, homes and countless other products.  They also pay taxes that keep schools open, streets maintained and police officers on watch. 

IHA believes it is important to view hospitals through the economic lens, especially for our government leaders who control much of the revenue hospitals depend upon.  As those leaders make important economic choices (between supporting more casinos, for example, or protecting the Medicaid budget), they must remember that hospitals are a wise investment. 

Shortchanging hospitals means shortchanging Iowa’s economy and threatening its chances for future growth.

Hospitals accounted for 5,000 new payroll additions in January, while ambulatory services accounted for 15,000 payroll additions and physicians’ offices accounted for 5,600 payroll additions.  Some areas of the health care sector lost jobs in January; nursing and residential care facilities reported 5,800 payroll reductions. 

The health care sector created 267,000 new jobs in 2009, including 22,000 payroll additions in December, according to BLS data.

Throughout the economic downturn, hospital and health care employment has remained relatively stable. Many Iowans who have lost their jobs have turned to health care to start new careers. This is a smart move; health care offers work that is challenging, rewarding and well-paying.

Many hospitals offer scholarships to help pay for college education in health care.  IHA has its own scholarship program that has helped dozens of Iowans start or advance their hospital careers.

The timing and support of these efforts says a lot about where hospitals and health care stand among Iowa’s priorities.  Clearly, with 118 hospitals, more than 70,000 employees and $5.8 billion in economic impact, Iowans recognize the value that these institutions bring to their communities, our state and everyone’s quality of life.

Iowans are known for their generosity, but they are also thoughtful about their giving, especially in these times.  Our hospitals continue to be a sound investment. And for those who want to contribute, hospitals offer their own legacy of giving and growth that instills community pride and individual achievement.

Ringgold County Hospital will open in its new facility on December 20. The hospital replaces a building that was built nearly 60 years ago.

The new facility will provide many advantages compared to the old hospital, which was built in 1951. One of the most important aspects of the new building is the efficiency of space. The new medical complex is 61,000 square feet, a vast improvement over the old, land-locked hospital with 38,000 square feet.  With the additional space, many of the medical areas and services will become more departmentalized.

The new one-level facility will also have two entrances. The south entrance will be for patients, visitors and employees, the north is for delivery and ambulance services. The helipad will be in its own area on the north side of the building. This will eliminate the problem of re-routing traffic and parking that existed at the old facility, where he helipad is in the center of the parking lot.

Other new additions patients can expect to see will be 16 private patient rooms and seven dialysis stations. With the seven dialysis stations, it will ease the problem at the old facility of patients having to start dialysis treatment at 4:30 a.m.so everyone can get through. There will also be radiant heating panels above each station.

Construction on the new hospital began in October 2008.

Ringgold County Hospital employs more than 120 people and has a $7.2 million impact on the area.

Uncompensated Care Provided by Iowa Hospitals

Information released this week by the American Hospital Association (AHA) shows how the worsening economy has taken a toll on U.S. hospitals. 

According to AHA, U.S. hospitals provided $36.4 billion in uncompensated care in 2008, a $2.4 billion increase over 2007.  Uncompensated care is the combination of bad debt (money hospitals expected to receive for care provided but did not) and charity care (money not expected to be received from patients who met the hospital’s guidelines for free care). 

In Iowa hospitals, uncompensated care totaled $709 million in 2008, up from $613 million in 2007. 

Meanwhile, underpayment by Medicare and Medicaid to U.S. hospitals reached $32.4 billion in 2008, up from $31.9 billion in 2007 and $3.8 billion in 2000, respectively.  Medicare reimbursed 91 cents and Medicaid reimbursed 89 cents for every dollar hospitals spent caring for these patients.  In Iowa during 2008, Medicaid losses totaled nearly $178 million, while Medicare losses amounted to $103 million. 

The poor economy and the rising cost of insurance have led to more people becoming uninsured.  Research has shown that for every one percentage point increase in unemployment, 2.5 million people lose their employer-sponsored insurance.  More uninsured people means more spending by hospitals to pay for care for people who cannot pay for it themselves. 

Some of the uninsured qualify for government assistance to pay their medical bills, often through the Medicaid program.  But Medicaid doesn’t pay hospitals for the full cost of care (neither does Medicare, but Medicaid pays even less) and hospitals must cover the difference.  With more people going on Medicaid, that difference is growing larger. 

How does this impact hospitals?  Well, for one thing, the growing demand for charity care and more instances of bad debt makes it harder for hospitals to pay better salaries (it’s well known that Iowa nurses salaries are among the lowest in the nation) that help keep medical professionals (particularly young ones) in the state.  It also makes it harder for hospitals to build reserves that pay for replacing aging equipment and improving services. 

But uncompensated care and underpayment by Medicaid and Medicare also impact individual Iowans, because these costs are shifted to payers who do cover their full cost of care – mainly people who are privately insured.  In Iowa, Wellmark has estimated that 10-15 percent of the dollars it pays to Iowa hospitals and physicians is to compensate for government programs’ shortfall. 

Uncompensated care and underpayment by Medicaid and Medicare are always a challenge for hospitals.  This is why IHA supports efforts to insure more Iowans and more Americans and why IHA has fought to keep the government from cutting Medicare and Medicaid payments.

Virginia Gay Hospital

It was 95 years ago this year that former Vinton resident Virginia Gay willed $50,000 to the city for the purpose of building a hospital.  With that initial donation (worth more than $1 million in today’s dollars), the hospital was able to open in 1923.  Today, her namesake hospital has more than 200 employees and provides more than $9 million to the local economy.

Much like Virginia Gay herself, the people of Vinton and Benton County continue to invest in their hospital.  More than $2 million was raised to support the $8.5 million effort.

Despite the increasingly important role hospitals play in Iowa communities, they are just as susceptible to feeling the impact of a downturn in the economy. Comparing hospital data from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the same period in 2007 shows declines in virtually all service areas.

Thanks to the American Hospital Association, now you can hear specifically from leaders in Iowa hospitals about how they are dealing with these economic challenges. AHA spoke with several Iowa hospital executives at the AHA annual meeting this week and provided video clips on YouTube.

Carmela Brown, Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines

Todd Linden, Grinnell Regional Medical Center in Grinnell

Mike Myers, Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon

David Schwartz, Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon

Veronica Fuhs, Lucas County Health Center in Chariton

Comparing data from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the same period in 2007 shows declines in virtually all service areas, from home health visits (down 5.2 percent) to inpatient surgeries (down 2.2 percent).

More significantly, charity care and bad debt increased 13.3 percent, meaning Iowa hospitals are treating more patients who are unable to pay for their care.  Nearly $72 million in charity care and bad debt was provided during the last three months of 2008, a record amount for a single quarter.

Such losses have also impacted hospitals’ already thin margins.  Operating margins have fallen from 2.8 percent for the final quarter of 2007 to .8 percent in 2008.  But when investment losses of hospital reserves are calculated in, margins that were at 5.5 percent in 2007 slid to -9.6 percent at the end of 2008.  This equates to an overall loss of more than $160 million in the fourth quarter alone.

In all, 45 percent of Iowa hospitals lost money on operations and 45 percent of Iowa hospitals lost money on total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2008.  This compares to 45 percent losing money on operations and 20 percent on total revenue in 2007.

“Just like other businesses, hospitals are subject to the hardships of the economic downturn,” said IHA President/CEO Kirk Norris.  “But on top of those issues, hospitals are expected to provide an essential public service, every day and at all hours, at a time when a growing number of individuals are in need.”

Also unlike other businesses, hospitals experience huge losses because Medicare and Medicaid, which together make up about 60 percent of Iowa hospital revenue, do not cover the full cost of providing care to their beneficiaries.  In 2008, Iowa hospitals lost more than $275 million to the two programs.

“As political leaders in Des Moines and Washington, D.C., look for ways to address and stabilize the economy, it is important they remember the burden government health care programs already place on hospitals and physicians,” Norris said.  “Health care is a social and economic cornerstone for Iowa and the nation, now more than ever.”

Hospitals in Iowa employ more than 72,000 people and have a $5.8 billion impact on the state’s economy.  In counties where they are located, hospitals are typically among the largest employers.

“Even in these difficult economic times, Iowa hospitals remain major employers and business partners throughout the state,” said Kirk Norris, IHA president/CEO.  “In addition to providing essential health care and community services, hospitals are at the foundation of Iowa’s economic infrastructure.  The state’s economic security is clearly linked to maintaining the high-quality health care system we now enjoy.”

The IHA study examined the jobs, income, retail sales and sales tax produced by hospitals and the rest of the state’s health care sector.  The study was compiled from hospital-submitted data on the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey of Hospitals and with software that other industries have used to determine their economic impact.

The study found that Iowa hospitals directly employ 72,220 people and create another 76,876 jobs outside the hospital sector.  As an income source, hospitals provide $3.3 billion in salaries and benefits and generate almost another $2.4 billion through other jobs that depend on hospitals.

In all, Iowa’s health care sector, which includes employed clinicians, long-term care services and assisted living centers, pharmacies and other medical and health services, directly and indirectly provides 366,072 Iowa jobs, or more than one-fifth of the state’s total employment.

“The economic impact of hospitals is sometimes overlooked because the focus is on the services and benefits hospitals provide,” said Rick Seidler, chair of the IHA Board and CEO of Allen Health System in Waterloo.  “But hospitals are large-scale employers throughout the state, and the jobs hospitals provide are important to retaining a young, highly educated and growing population in Iowa.”

In the U.S., hospitals employ nearly more than 5 million people, supporting more than 11 percent of U.S. jobs, according to the American Hospital Association.  Last year, U.S. hospitals spent about $304 billion on goods and services from other businesses, supporting nearly $2 trillion in economic activity.