They come to us with fantastic training and are just great members of our community. He continues,“We’ve most recently shored up our staffing in the laboratory by using these highly trained immigrant professionals. The immigration system makes it very difficult for them, unnecessarily so.” Three immigrants from the Philippines recently arrived and are new members of his staff, Kincaid says. The healthcare system desperately needs these immigrants with the proper training and expertise to carry out our mission. He tells us, “The immigration process is complicated and expensive. Kevin Kincaid sees firsthand the need for immigrants in healthcare as CEO of the Knoxville Hospital and Clinics in Iowa. For many citizens, it means they will choose a less demanding minimum-wage job. Though raising minimum wage increase may entice more native citizens to work in care facilities, without reform, Medicaid reimbursement wages will always cap salaries. Demanding workloads and hours lead to stress, injury and burnout, which contributes to high turnover in the field generally.

In part, this is because the job is incredibly demanding-workers report “chronic understaffing, workplace violence, undue risk of injury or illness, chronic fatigue, and significant mental health strain.” Nursing assistants face heavy workloads that require them to support multiple residents simultaneously per shift, often with insufficient time to meet the needs of those they care for. Nationally, foreign-born workers make up about 25 percent of the direct care workings in the home care industry and 19 percent of direct care workers in the nursing home care industry. Immigrants comprise 7 percent of the workforce in direct care, slightly higher than the 5.5 percent of foreign-born persons statewide. Compounding these shortages are low rates of foreign-born workers in the state. Iowa also has 73,400 job openings for direct care workers, ranking 26 on the national Direct Care Workforce State Index developed by PHI National. Nearly half of all Iowans live alone and lack retirement income, and a third have a disability. The median age for Iowans-like most Americans-is 73. We can take Iowa as a microcosm of America. 2,400), a residential facility closed earlier this year with little notice, forcing some long-term residents to scramble to secure spots in neighboring facilities. As a result, most nursing homes are limiting new patients, and many face the looming specter of closure over staffing shortages. More than half of all nursing homes fail to comply with daily staffing levels as set by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Representatives from three-quarters of the facilities report a lack of qualified candidates as their biggest obstacle. face moderate to high staffing shortages, even though most have offered increased wages and bonuses. Today, at least 87 percent of nursing homes in the U.S.

Not only will America’s elderly struggle to find healthcare, but they may also have few choices when hiring help to remain in their homes or securing a position in a residential facility. We need more immigrants in every aspect of healthcare and the rest of our economy for our country to thrive. And it’s not just our elderly population. Without more immigrants, aging Americans face a bleak future for our ability to age with dignity. Census, “By 2060, nearly one in four Americans will be 65 years and older, the number of 85-plus will triple, and the country will add a half million centenarians.” According to a 2021 AAMC report, just 6,124 physicians nationwide specialize in caring for older adults. The Association of American Colleges (AAMC) predicts a shortfall of as many as 124,000 physicians by 2034, with geriatricians facing a particularly severe shortage. In particular, America’s aging population is exploding and the unmet demand for the caregivers elderly citizens rely on is becoming increasingly pronounced in rural areas and smaller cities and towns where nearly half of all Americans live. This shortage is having a great impact on our healthcare system.

There are more than 11 million job openings and only 6 million unemployed workers in the United States, and employers have struggled for more than a year to hire enough people to fill their ranks.

Iowa microcosm