MHA Press Room

Study: Additional cuts to funding for hospital care would drive up job losses

An additional 83,000 jobs could be lost if Congress enacts nearly $20 billion in Medicare cuts to funding for hospital care included in H.R. 3630, House-passed legislation extending the Social Security tax holiday, unemployment insurance and the physician fix, according to an updated analysis by a firm specializing in economic impact studies. That's in addition to an estimated 194,000 jobs that will be lost through mandatory sequestration slated to begin in 2013, which includes $41.5 billion in cuts to Medicare payments to hospitals over nine years.

Two of every three dollars spent on hospital care goes to wages and salaries for caregivers and other workers. Hospitals, which rank second only to restaurants as the top source of private-sector jobs, created 89,000 jobs in 2011.

"Cuts in funding for hospital care will threaten jobs at a time when our nation needs to be creating jobs, not eliminating them," said American Hospital Association President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. "H.R. 3630 would lead to further job losses in hospitals, an ill-advised move in these tough economic times."

Find Mississippi's job loss numbers here.

Report: Hospitals second largest source of private sector jobs

Hospitals in 2008 employed more than 5.3 million people and were the second largest source of private sector jobs, according to an AHA report released June 18. The report updates an April 2008 AHA TrendWatch showing the economic contribution of hospitals by state, which was based on 2006 data.

The report notes that the goods and services hospitals purchase from other businesses create additional economic value for the community and with these "ripple effects" included, each hospital job supports about two more jobs.

Nursing school admissions stall with recession

Admissions to pre-licensure nursing programs fell by 2% in 2008, the first decline in at least six years, according to the latest annual survey by the National League for Nursing. Nearly one-quarter of U.S. nursing programs received more qualified applicants than they could accept due to shortages of faculty, clinical placements or classroom space.

"This study points to the inextricable connection between the economy, nursing education and the need to reform our health care delivery system,” said Pamela Rudisill, president of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, an AHA subsidiary.

Healthcare Created 14,500 New Jobs in January

The health care sector created 14,500 new jobs in January and overall employment from all business sectors fell by 20,000 jobs, even as the unemployment rate fell from 10% to 9.7%, new Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary data released Feb. 5 show. Ambulatory services accounted for 15,000 payroll additions in January, physicians' offices accounted for 5,600 payroll additions, and hospitals accounted for 5,000 new payroll additions.

Broad Demand for Healthcare Workers Seen in Most US Markets

The demand for healthcare workers appears to be accelerating in most areas of the nation, a new study shows. Labor trends in 30 markets tracked by the consulting firm Health Workforce Solutions LLC found demand growing fastest in Sacramento, Riverside/San Bernardino, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Dallas for the fourth quarter of 2009. The New York/Northern New Jersey area ranked at the bottom of the 30 markets tracked.

Read the press release here.

Hospital employment climbs 0.12% in October

Employment at the nation's hospitals rose 0.12% in October to a seasonally adjusted 4,741,200 people, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Nov. 6. That's 10,000 more people than in September and 59,300 more than a year ago.

Without the seasonal adjustment, which removes the effect of fluctuations due to seasonal events, hospitals employed 4,745,100 people in October, 16,900 more than in September and 58,500 more than a year ago. The nation's overall unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage point in October to 10.2%.

Health Care Sector's Online Job Ads Falter

Adding weight to the belief that we are in a jobless recovery, a new report showed that online job listings decreased slightly across many employment sectors nationally, and that health care was one of the casualties.

The Conference Board's Help Wanted OnLine Data Series report, which tracks more than 1,000 online job boards across the United States, found that online advertised vacancies across all occupations fell by 83,200 listings in October, for a total of 3.2 million.

A snapshot of U.S. physicians

Nearly one-third of physicians still practice in solo or two-physician practices, but nearly 20% work in practices of six or more doctors, according to a tracking study of U.S. physicians released by the Center for Studying Health System Change. On average, nearly half of physicians' practice revenue is derived from public sources (31% Medicare and 17% Medicaid), and about three quarters of doctors still accept all or most new Medicare patients. 

Read more here.

Hospital employment climbs in June

Employment at the nation's hospitals rose in June to a seasonally adjusted 4,723,100 people, the Bureau of Labor Statistics on July 2. That's 3,700 more than in May and 89,100 more than a year ago. Without the seasonal adjustment, which removes the effect of fluctuations due to seasonal events, hospitals employed 4,730,400 people in June, 24,300 more than in May and 87,200 more than a year ago. The nation's overall unemployment rate rose by one-tenth of a percentage point in May to 9.5%.

Record number of students matched to teaching hospitals

A record 29,890 applicants were matched on March 19 to residency training programs, 1,153 more than last year and 4,500 more than five years ago, according to the National Resident Matching Program. More than half the participants in the annual match day were U.S. medical school seniors (15,638), 400 more than last year. Other participants included 10,874 graduates of international medical schools, 2,015 students and graduates of osteopathic schools, and 1,222 physicians who previously graduated from medical schools.

"We saw an across the board increase in Match applicants this year, particularly among U.S. medical school seniors," said NRMP Executive Director Mona Signer. "This is likely the result of medical school expansion across the nation in anticipation of a future physician shortage - existing medical schools have increased their class sizes and new medical schools are in development."