Imagine needing a critical test at your local hospital, but having to wait days to be tested because there was no laboratory professional available to run the tests. This scene seems unimaginable, but with the federal government estimating that nearly 140,000 new medical lab professionals are needed by 2012 and only 50,000 are expected to be trained on time, this scenario is a reality in some parts of the country. Some states, like California, are taking aggressive action to reverse this trend.
California's Healthcare Laboratory Workforce Initiative (HLWI), initiated by the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California and supported by the Abbott Fund, has helped to more than double the number of hospitals that provide on-site clinical training for aspiring laboratory science workers. This accomplishment is key since students need to complete clinical training before they can be licensed in California. The HLWI has also helped to ensure hospital training sites expand their programs to allow for more students.
"One of HLWI's initiatives, the Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) and Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) Training Grants Program, awarded grants for innovative and creative projects that significantly increased the number of training positions for laboratory technologists in California," said Tim Hamill, M.D., medical director, University of California San Francisco Clinical Laboratories and co-chair, HLWI. "As a result, California is now a national leader in creating new jobs in the laboratory profession."
New Training Programs Help Ease Lab Staff Shortages
The boost in the Golden State's lab workforce is helping to ease a serious staffing crisis. The closing of training programs at universities and hospitals, as well as aging lab technologists without an ample supply of successors, led to an average shortage of four full-time employees per hospital laboratory in the state.
One factor underlying the shortage in California, and nationwide, is that other health professions, such as nursing, are more known and visible, whereas laboratory professionals work primarily behind the scenes. "Only two new laboratory scientists are entering the field for every seven facing retirement. Lack of public understanding and recognition of what lab workers do means fewer young people learn about laboratory science careers," said Art Sponseller, president/CEO of the Hospital Council. "A major problem has been the small number of accredited education programs in California and around the country, and their inability to train large numbers of students."