My sister-in-law graduated with her Bachelor’s in Nursing in December. She’s always been in the top of her class — an excellent candidate in what’s supposed to be a “recession-proof” field.
But not in Minnesota.
After months of searching for work in Minnesota, she’s finally found a way to get work. She’s moving to Kentucky.
The healthcare provider job market is bleak right now because thier volumes have tanked in this recession, not because of GAMC cuts.
With the exception of county hospitals like HCMC or Regions, GAMC probably amounts to 3-6% of a provider’s payer mix, and even less in terms of its budget contribution because it has always paid poorly.
Making the worst payer a little worse isn’t a game changer.
DantheMan
If your down a gallon of blood and you lose another pint, that is a small portion of the total loss but more than enough to kill you. Our volume of patients isn’t down Dan, our volume of uninsured or underinsured patients is up. People are unable to pay their copays. Most of the cases we see in the ER have no insurance. We can’t pay people salaries when the care is given away. If you don’t think this is a game changer Dan then your sitting too far up in the bleachers to see whats happening on the ground.
Nonetheless, it is the people who are losing their healthcare coverage that will suffer the most. The financial distress that hospitals and clinics are experiencing pales in comparison to having to watch a loved one suffer for lack of access to healthcare. It is a sad day in America when the pain of higher taxes on the already wealthy is pitted against the pain of denial of healthcare to the most disadvantaged — -and the wealthy win.
Tim Pawlenty is unalloting
Sure doesn’t make things better, does it, bucky?
Allina and Fairview have both reported declining patient volume trends. I don’t know about the rest, but those two systems account for more than half the care in the metro area.
It is more complex than just declining volumes. Yes fewer people are seeking elective treatment just like fewer people are driving up to the cabin or shopping at the mall. Delayed medical care however, isn’t like delayed fun. people who postpone necessary medical care get sicker. When they do come in they need more care more urgently and fewer of them have the ability to pay for their care. Postpone diabetic treatment and you end up with gangrenous ulcers on your feet, blindness and kidney failure. Postpone that hysterectomy and you end up with anemia or uterine cancer. Postpone being seen for the urinary tract infection and you end up with sepsis or bacterial endocarditis and valve replacement. Postpone takeing care of that upper respiratory infection and you end up with pneumonia. Declining volumes today mean sicker people with higher costs in a few months with fewer providers to care for them.
Please, please analyze what you just said DtM. The health care provider job market is bleak right now. We are paying through the roof for health care, yet that is not creating jobs? I thought your old supply side economics theories created jobs? The supply side of health care is flush with money, why are the jobs leaving? Oh yeah, the money goes to administrators in this country, not providers. My fault.
No stats and no facts, but a single anecdote from a recent college graduate? Good enough for me!
Yeah, I’m sure all those doctors and nurses at Mayo Clinic are packing their things and Rochester is going to turn into the next Flint, Michigan. My brother’s cat’s vet’s sister in law works at a clinic and shes staying. I’m sure your sister in law could have found a job in Minnesota (http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=nurse&l=minnesota) but shes going to Kentucky for more money.
No nursing jobs currently advertised here. We recently closed a monitored unit, and there is talk of closing at least one ICU. A bunch of recent hires swiftly got their jobs “unalloted” so no, all is not peachy in Rochester
“going to Kentucky for more money.”
That is idiocy right there. Nursing and medical jobs earn about half to 2/3 in Kentucky.
How many ICU’s do you have at your hospital? The Kentucky reference was pure speculation, I have no idea why she’s going to Kentucky, but I know its not for lack of jobs here and anybody who says otherwise is lying (its why I posted the proof in my comment). There probably aren’t any nursing jobs posted at your workplace, how in the hell does that speak for the rest of the hospitals across the state? Your “bunch of recent hires” are subject to the same ebbs and flows in the economy that the rest of the world has to deal with, why should they be protected because they work in the health care field?
Hey Jeff,
Try to make a logical argument, not one based on one of your relatives. Everyday businesses relocate out of Minnesota because of the tax climate. They take many many more jobs with them, then the few we stand to lose in healthcare.
I work in healthcare and hire healthcare workers and I see no credible evidence that workers are fleeing the state. I also think that is an unlikely future scenario.
The impact of this recession on the healthcare industry is acutally less than it has been on many other industries. The real tradgedy is the loss of healthcare for those in all sectors of the economy who have lost their jobs and/or their health insurance or who must delay seeking healthcare because they can no longer afford to take the risk of losing their job or they simply can not afford the copays and high deductibles. This problem is compounded by further cuts in public health programs.
“how in the hell does that speak for the rest of the hospitals across the state? ”
YOU are the one who brought the Mayo Clinic into the discussion. You seem to think there are plenty of jobs here…there are NOT.
Minnesota has the lowest cost of care nationwide, and among the highest quality metrics. If there are not alot of nursing jobs available today, perhaps it is because they are not needed at the moment. Healthcare leaders in Minnesota have a track record of running a very efficient healthcare system. If they are not hiring right now, perhaps it is because additional capacity is not needed. That isn’t such a bad thing.
Cue the anecdote about how some clinician somewhere is overworked and needs help.
Unfortunately, an inane post is leading to many inane comments.
The recession/depression is national, not local. There is no flight to or from Minnesota, as far as I know, the sky is falling everywhere. The grass isn’t greener except in places you would not want to live anyway.
A decrease in demand for care or an oversupply of caregivers will necessarily result in a decrease in demand for caregivers. This flight thing is an unfortunate distraction. The true tragedy here is being experienced by those who lose their job or their healthcare or both.
DTM, why do you make comments like this, “Cue the anecdote about how some clinician somewhere is overworked and needs help”. You turn a perfectly good comment into a cheap shot. You are pre-emptively mocking potential respondents. Are you just baiting people? It doesn’t help the flow of ideas.
Ron - I appreciate the feedback. My tone was definately one of baiting.
I would have done better by acknowledging “Sure, I’m certain somewhere in the state there are clinicians who would disagree that we don’t need additional hiring right now, but I’m confident they are the exception and our system is being run well.”
That would have been a more productive way to say it.