U.S. Rep. Angie Craig Leads Bipartisan Push to Address Critical Allied Health Care Worker Shortage
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN) and Marc Molinaro (R-NY) introduced bipartisan legislation to address and prevent future health care worker shortages across the country.
Allied health professionals, such as medical assistants, dental hygienists, pharmacy technicians, peer specialists and billing and coding professionals play a critical role in health care delivery. The United States is projected to face a significant allied health care worker shortage in the next decade and is on pace to lack 112,000 medical assistants and 33,000 dental assistants by 2035.
The bipartisan Health Care Workforce Innovation Act would help prevent that by issuing grants to establish or expand partnerships between Community Health Centers, high schools, vocational-technical schools, community colleges and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) to build out and empower future generations of allied health care professionals.
“We need to act to ensure that all Americans have access to the high-quality health care they deserve. Right now, that means investing in the community partnerships we know will prevent workforce shortages and incentivizing young folks to pursue meaningful careers as health care workers. I’m proud to be working with my colleague Rep. Molinaro on this important bipartisan effort,” said Rep. Craig.
“I am proud to partner with Congresswoman Craig to address the healthcare provider shortage. It’s not good enough to just have a Community Health Center. In many medically underserved and rural communities, we need enough qualified providers to meet the needs of Upstate New York families. This grant program will get more students trained to provide care to the Upstate New York community,” said Rep. Molinaro.
The bipartisan Health Care Workforce Innovation Act has been endorsed by the National Association of Community Health Centers, the National Rural Health Association and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations.
“The bipartisan Health Innovation Workforce Fund proposal offers a critical solution to the growing workforce challenges that community health centers in Minnesota and across the nation face. Allied health professionals – such as medical and dental assistants – are vital members of the care team at health centers. A similar apprenticeship program for health centers in Minnesota has trained over 20 people to become a medical or dental assistants. These apprentices learn key skills, while at the same time being paid by their health center as an employee. We appreciate the legislation from Representatives Molinaro and Craig as it recognizes the health center workforce needs, while simultaneously providing career advancement opportunities for the communities health centers serve,” said Jonathan Watson, CEO of the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers.
“Open Door has been impressed with our ability to launch our Career-Focused Education Programing. In the last year, Open Door graduated 3 Dental Assistants, and we currently have 3 Dental Assistants enrolled in the Apprenticeship program. The additional support from Dental Assistants has allowed ODHC Dentists to increase the number of patients served each day from 9 to 14. And, thanks to Representative Craig’s support of these efforts including sponsorship of H.R.7307, we can get even more done in the near term,” says Rhonda Eastlund, Open Door Health Center’s CEO.
Click here for a copy of Rep. Craig’s bill.
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