Published: November 15, 2008 11:45 pm         

Oklahoma is facing a shortage of medical staff

By 2012, Oklahoma will face a shortage of 3,000 nurses, or about 12 percent of the current work force, along with hundreds of lab technicians, physical therapists and other medical professionals, according to Oklahoma Healthcare Workforce Center.

Jeff Tarrant, president of Integris Bass Baptist Health Center, said he thinks the shortage is hitting the entire nation, not just Oklahoma.

“I think the entire industry is facing a nursing shortage,” he said. “We are fortunate we are not in a crisis right now. We have to have a sense of urgency; the numbers are very clear we are going to have problems down the road.”

Linda Hoag, director of human resources at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, said the shortage is more obvious in large cities than in Enid right now.

“In bigger cities, like Los Angeles, patients are waiting for days to even see anyone,” she said.

Oklahoma Hospital Association is hoping the Legislature can help next session with a bill to address the problem.

Last session, Sen. Susan Paddack, D-Ada, authored legislation asking for $7.8 million in state appropriations to fund scholarships, including those to increase faculty numbers, update curriculums and add classroom technology like simulation labs. The legislative session ended with a bill expressing concern but no funding.

Paddack said she would seek funding during the Legislature’s next session.

Oklahoma hospital leaders said they contributed more than $30 million in the past three years to support work force education.

Hospitals have tried to boost numbers by funding scholarships, paid internships, tuition waivers, faculty jobs and clinical supervision of students, according to Oklahoma Hospital Association.

Both Hoag and Tarrant agree the way to avoid a bigger shortage of nurses is through educating more students to become nurses now.

“We provide scholarships,” said Hoag. “Bass and St. Mary’s essentially pay the salary of one of the nursing instructors at Northwestern.”

One of the problems is the lack of faculty to educate students wishing to enter the nursing field.

“Our concern in the past has been how to grow the faculty base to educate more nurses,” said Tarrant. “We need to do that now rather than in the future when there is a crisis. There is a limited number of students that can be in the program because of the number of faculty to teach them.”

Besides providing scholarships and money for faculty, both hospitals provide clinical rotations for college nursing students and hire graduates from the programs.

“Every year we hire the graduates from the nursing program,” said Hoag. “But they graduate in May and you have to wait a whole year before you get more. The only other resource we have is people moving into Enid.”

Hoag thinks the need for nurses could be good for people looking for a career.

“It would be a great career for a people person. It is a great opportunity for people who are out of a job and aren’t sure what they want to do and also for students going to school looking for a career,” said Hoag. “It is hard work but very satisfying.”



The Associated Press contributed to this story.