Hws Labor Market Pulse Index Shows Slowing Demand Across U.s. Health Care Labor Markets For Q1

April 5, 2010 - PRLog -- San Francisco, CA April 5, 2010  – The HWS Labor Market Pulse® Index (LMPI), a quarterly barometer of local market healthcare workforce fluctuations released today, shows a slow down in demand for health care workers across a number of regions despite notable improvements in the San Francisco Bay, Seattle, Tampa, and Philadelphia metropolitan areas for the first quarter of 2010.  The Sacramento and New York/Northern New Jersey areas ranked at the bottom of the 30 markets tracked.

Among the findings for the first quarter of 2010:

•   The near-term demand for health care workers grew the fastest in the San Francisco Bay, Seattle, Tampa and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.

•   Much of the growth was fueled by newly announced expansion plans and/or large-scale hiring announcements at organizations including Genentech in South San Francisco, Swedish Hospital Group in Seattle, and Jefferson Health System in Philadelphia.

•   Of the 30 major markets tracked by the HWS Labor Market Pulse Index® (LMPI), the slowest areas for the quarter included the New York metro/Northern New Jersey, Sacramento, and the St. Louis metropolitan areas.  

•   The LMPI composite index, a representative basket of the 30 largest markets, posted an 8% drop in the first quarter of 2010 from the fourth quarter of 2009, after a nearly 20% increase the previous quarter.

•   For the fourth quarter ended 12/31/09, 11 markets of the 30 tracked by the LMPI showed signs of accelerated expansion (vs. 21 in the prior quarter).

“I think we are just seeing renewed caution in a number of markets after a surprising spike last quarter,” said David Cherner, Managing Partner of Health Workforce Solutions LLC, the company that publishes the HWS Labor Market Pulse® Index. “However, now that there is clarity around health care reform, we expect hiring plans to be much more aggressive over the next couple of quarters, particularly when compared to last year,” Cherner added.  “We are also beginning to see many forward-thinking organizations restarting dormant longer-term workforce planning exercises in preparation for what will undoubtedly become the most competitive health care labor market we have ever seen.”

In response to demands for local workforce data that provides actionable information, HWS launched Labor Market Pulse® in 2008, a first of-its-kind, centralized and local workforce planning tool for health care employers in several key major markets.  

The launch of the HWS Labor Market Pulse® Index (LMPI) in 2009 expanded the footprint of Labor Market Pulse into 30 markets and now enables meaningful comparison, by tracking elements including temporary health workforce shortages and surpluses, facility and bed closures, announced layoffs and expansions, and local economic trends.  Going forward, the HWS LMPI will be expanded to 36 markets and continue to be tracked on a quarterly basis both individually and in composite indices.

For more information on the HWS Labor Market Pulse® Index, visit www.healthws.com or call 1-877-892-2430 x805.


About Health Workforce Solutions LLC (HWS)
Health Workforce Solutions LLC (HWS) is a leading research and advisory firm focused on workforce issues in health care.  Founded in 2004, the clients of HWS include hospitals and health systems, health plans, professional practice groups and associations, educational and training institutions, foundations and government agencies.   For more information, visit www.healthws.com or call 1-877-892-2430 x805.

About the HWS Labor Market Pulse® Index (LMPI)
The HWS Labor Market Pulse™ Index (LMPI) provides a quarterly barometer of local market healthcare workforce expansion and contraction.  Patterned loosely after the Case-Shiller home index, the LMPI identifies and enables comparison of 30 health care labor markets by tracking elements including temporary health workforce shortages and surpluses, facility and bed closures, announced layoffs and expansions, and local economic trends.  The LMPI will be published quarterly as part of Labor Market Pulse® and distributed nationally to health care executives, the media and other interested parties. For more information, visit www.labormarketpulse.com.

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About Health Workforce Solutions LLC (HWS)
Health Workforce Solutions LLC (HWS) is a leading research and advisory firm focused on workforce issues in health care. Founded in 2004, the clients of HWS include hospitals and health systems, health plans, professional practice groups and associations, educational and training institutions, foundations and government agencies. For more information, visit www.healthws.com or call 1-877-892-2430 x805.