Survey says
Healthcare has
Growth Potential
A 2005 survey by the Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) highlights MERIC's occupational projections and compares vacancy and turnover rates for high demand healthcare occupations. The results show outstanding growth potential for many healthcare professions across the state. MERIC projections find ten of the twenty fastest growing occupations from 2004-2014 are in the healthcare field.
| Occupation | 2004-2014 Percent Change |
2004-2014 Growth Openings |
| Network Systems and Data Comm. Analysts | 43.8% | 2,429 |
| Dental Hygienists | 43.2% | 853 |
| Medical Assistants | 43.0% | 2,812 |
| Dental Assistants | 42.6% | 2,069 |
| Computer Software Engineers, Sys. Software | 39.3% | 1,389 |
| Physician Assistants | 38.6% | 374 |
| Home Health Aides | 34.8% | 3,373 |
| Forensic Science Technicians | 34.7% | 86 |
| Computer Software Engineers, Applications | 34.3% | 3,794 |
| Network and Computer Systems Admin. | 31.3% | 1,934 |
| Database Administrators | 31.1% | 819 |
| Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists | 30.3% | 604 |
| Social and Human Service Assistants | 29.8% | 955 |
| Personal and Home Care Aides | 29.2% | 4,928 |
| Occupational Therapist Assistants | 29.2% | 186 |
| Physical Therapist Assistants | 28.7% | 396 |
| Tour Guides and Escorts | 28.1% | 216 |
| Marriage and Family Therapists | 27.8% | 62 |
| Special Education Teachers | 27.8% | 1,667 |
| Paralegals and Legal Assistants | 27.3% | 1,098 |
Though not in the top twenty in percent growth, registered nurse has the fifth most projected openings in Missouri with 23,189 and the most among healthcare occupations. It also has the highest vacancy and turnover rates for healthcare occupations, making it a high demand occupation for years to come. According to the MHA survey in 2005, the vacancy rate for registered nurses was 9.5 percent, a lower rate than the last survey in 2002 of 11.1 percent.
The vacancy rate for registered nurses varies by region in Missouri with the lowest rates occurring in the northeast, northwest and southeast regions. Higher vacancy rates occurred in the central, southwest and Ozark regions.
Turnover rates were more evenly distributed throughout the state with the west central, south central and northeast regions experiencing higher rates and northwest and central regions the lowest.
Other occupations covered in the MHA survey were pharmacist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, respiratory therapist and medical laboratory technician. All these occupations will experience growth over the next ten years.
|
Occupation |
Employment | |
| 2004 Estimated | 2014 Projected | |
| Total, All Occupations | 2,923,800 | 3,167,280 |
| Registered Nurses | 53,110 | 65,190 |
| Pharmacists | 4,790 | 5,650 |
| Physical Therapists | 3,650 | 4,570 |
| Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians | 3,290 | 3,920 |
| Occupational Therapists | 2,630 | 3,340 |
| Respiratory Therapists | 2,120 | 2,520 |
Vacancy rates for pharmacists increased in 2005 to 7.9 percent from 6.4 percent the previous year with the highest rates in west central and lowest in the northeast and southeast regions. Physical therapist experienced the highest vacancy rates in the south central and Kansas City regions and lowest in the northeast and northwest regions.
For the entire results of the
Missouri Hospital Workforce Report 2005, visit the MHA website at: http://web.mhanet.com/asp/Workforce/pdf/2005_workforce_report.pdf
MERIC occupational projections can be found at: http://www.missourieconomy.org/occupations/occ_proj.stm
