The health care industry is facing worker shortages due to an increase in retirees, fewer workers and a growing demand for services. According to Healthcare Labor Shortages: Get the Facts, Minnesota will likely experience vacancies in registered nursing -- the largest employment group in health care -- of over 9,200 by 2015. This type of news report often focuses on nurses, but the nursing shortage isn’t the only alarming part of the story. Similar forecasts are anticipated in almost all health care programs including laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, home health aide, respiratory therapy and nursing assistants.
Jon Linnell, CEO of North Valley Health Center, Warren, says, "If we lose just one X-ray or laboratory tech, we may have to close our doors. The supply and demand problem is especially severe in Greater Minnesota where there is a very limited supply of professionals in the face of an increasing demand."
To help offset such healthcare worker shortages in East Central Minnesota, Pine Technical College has partnered with Lake Superior College to bring a Medical Laboratory Technician A.A.S. degree to the Pine Area and starts in the Fall semester, 2010. A Medical Laboratory Technician performs routine tests in all areas of the clinical laboratory and searches for the presence, absence, extent and cause of diseases. Qualifications of this highly skilled individual include a dedication and commitment to accuracy and precision to ensure quality patient outcomes. Interested students should apply now; the program will not accept new students next year. Classes start Aug. 23.
For more information about PTC's new Medical Laboratory Technician degree, call 320-629-5100.
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