The directors of historically Black medical schools are requesting additional financing in order to teach a more diverse workforce due to the health-care crisis.
Data from the Health Resources & Services Administration show that as of Monday, the United States needs more than 17,000 additional primary care physicians, 12,000 additional dental health professionals, and 8,200 additional mental health professionals in areas where a health workforce shortage has been identified.
Leaders Address Health-Care Workforce Shortage
The information used to calculate such figures comes from state agencies and health departments, according to HRSA.
At a roundtable discussion on Friday at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Sanders met with the deans of historically Black medical schools to discuss the scarcity of healthcare workers in the country.
Sanders, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, stated that the shortage of healthcare workers is more acute in Black and brown communities despite the fact that only 5.7% of American doctors are Black, despite the Black community making up 13% of the country’s population.
According to recent research commissioned by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the financial toll that health inequities have had on the US economy totals billions of dollars.
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Challenges in US Healthcare
Such disparities are demonstrated by the increased prevalence of adverse health outcomes, including maternal mortality, some chronic diseases, and infectious diseases, among Black and brown communities.
The economic cost of health inequities for racial and ethnic minority communities in the US in 2018 was estimated to be up to $451 billion, and for those without a four-year college degree, it was estimated to be up to $978 billion.
As per Rice, “the COVID-19 pandemic drew back inequities in health, such as early death and others, and we noticed a disproportionate cost on some communities.”
By 2034, an increase in demand would result in a physician shortage in the United States of up to 124,000, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
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