State Sen. Judy Ward (R-30) | judyforpa.org
State Sen. Judy Ward (R-30) | judyforpa.org
Officials in Pennsylvania have pointed to a shortage of healthcare personnel as a key reason for gaps in medical services persisting throughout the state.
State Sen. Judy Ward (R-30) has acknowledged that a healthcare worker shortage has left “facilities and services across the Commonwealth struggling to find staff to help provide the services that their clients depend on.”
Altoona Times recently reported that the ability to treat and serve Blair County residents affected by the rising use of opioid drugs is being impacted by the shortage.
When Sen. Ward was asked if she was aware of the issue and if she planned on addressing it, the senator immediately answered “Yes” to both questions.
“I am very aware of the healthcare worker shortage in Pennsylvania. Whether it is an addiction treatment facility, hospital or long-term care facility, healthcare facilities and services across the Commonwealth are struggling to find staff to help provide the services that their clients depend on,” Ward told Altoona Times.
“In my role as Senate Aging and Youth Committee chair, I have focused on addressing this crisis specifically how it pertains to our older adults. That’s why I have introduced Senate Bill 668, which would create the position of Certified Medication Aides (CMAs) to help healthcare facilities better staff and care for their residents and patients. I have also been an advocate for the necessary funding that long-term care facilities and personal assistance services rely on to continue to provide care.”
Blair County had 2,718 residents with an opioid drug use disorder in the year 2020, reported Altoona Times.
Statewide, opioid drug use disorders in Pennsylvania increased from 295,000 in 2016 to 316,000 in 2019.
The state’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), provides funding to 47 county-level “Single County Authorities (SCAs)”, which coordinate local behavioral treatment and recovery services.
But too often, the would-be recipients of those services can’t receive them.
Due to Pennsylvania’s healthcare worker shortage, 63 of the state’s 67 counties considered a partially or primary care health professional shortage area (HPSA), according to a 2021 report by MarshMcLennan.
When it comes to behavioral and mental health, 53 of Pennsylvania’s counties are considered mental health HPSAs.
84% of respondents in a September 2023 survey of the state’s substance use disorder (SUD) workforce said that the current workforce shortage is a “moderate to serious problem” for their organizations. That survey, conducted by DDAP, also found that the average job vacancy rate at these organizations was 18%.
This workforce shortage comes as opioid-related deaths rose sharply in Pennsylvania between 2010 and 2019. The rate of deaths increased from 5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2010 to 23.7 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019, wrote Penn State University geographer and demographer Louisa Holmes in a May 11, 2023 GoErie op-ed.
Those numbers then rose to 42.5 opioid-related deaths per 100,000 people in 2020.
DDAP’s survey identified several causes of the workforce shortage, including the number of applicants and compensation issues.
Nijmie Zakkiyyah Dzurinko, Co-founder and Root Coordinator of Put People First! PA, provided examples of the systemic effects of denying healthcare.
“The denial of healthcare is harming and killing people in our communities everyday—through hospital closures, no place to have a baby, long wait times, surprise bills, coverage denials, private equity control of our hospitals and few mental, dental or addiction services available for working class people,” Dzurinko said. “Healthcare workers are not the problem—it’s a healthcare system that puts profit over meeting people’s needs and elected officials that allow this to happen.”
The head of the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) also told Keystone Today that the state’s lawsuit climate also impacts the ability to recruit and retain healthcare workers.
“Escalation of medical liability can lead to an access to care crisis by driving doctors away from the state due to mounting costs,” said ATRA President Tiger Joyce.
Additionally, the head of a Pennsylvania civil justice reform organization said medical errors in the Keystone State should not be treated criminally.
His comments follow the passage in Kentucky of the nation’s first-ever law decriminalizing medical errors by healthcare providers, except in cases of gross negligence or misconduct.
“Criminalization should be limited only to areas where intentional harm to a patient is committed,” Curt Schroder, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform (PCCJR), told Keystone Today. “Errors, while very unfortunate, should not be treated as criminal acts.”
“PCCJR would oppose any attempt to further deal with medical errors through additional criminalization of unintentional behavior,” Schroder said.
Schroder specifically referenced the workforce shortage in rural Pennsylvania, saying, “Rural hospitals already face greater difficulties recruiting providers than their suburban and urban peers and, now, they must also cover urban-size risk factors to retain them.”
How many opioid drug use disorders were in each Pennsylvania county in 2020?
Source: PA Opioid Data Dashboard
| County | Year | Drug Use Disorder Estimate |
| Northampton | 2020 | 6159 |
| Greene | 2020 | 748 |
| Clarion | 2020 | NA |
| Lackawanna | 2020 | 5352 |
| Warren | 2020 | NA |
| York | 2020 | 12080 |
| Delaware | 2020 | 11781 |
| Armstrong | 2020 | 1615 |
| Snyder | 2020 | NA |
| Forest | 2020 | NA |
| Luzerne | 2020 | 10046 |
| Bradford | 2020 | NA |
| Beaver | 2020 | 4007 |
| Tioga | 2020 | 628 |
| Huntingdon | 2020 | NA |
| Lancaster | 2020 | 8821 |
| Washington | 2020 | 5920 |
| Wayne | 2020 | 688 |
| Northumberland | 2020 | 2153 |
| Clearfield | 2020 | 1166 |
| Indiana | 2020 | 2093 |
| Mifflin | 2020 | NA |
| Cameron | 2020 | NA |
| Blair | 2020 | 2781 |
| Lehigh | 2020 | 6728 |
| Cambria | 2020 | 4306 |
| Dauphin | 2020 | 5920 |
| Schuylkill | 2020 | 1794 |
| Fayette | 2020 | 4425 |
| Mercer | 2020 | 2781 |
| Susquehanna | 2020 | NA |
| Westmoreland | 2020 | 7953 |
| Clinton | 2020 | NA |
| Jefferson | 2020 | 628 |
| Union | 2020 | NA |
| Monroe | 2020 | 5860 |
| Adams | 2020 | 1346 |
| Franklin | 2020 | 1286 |
| Perry | 2020 | 987 |
| Berks | 2020 | 7894 |
| Carbon | 2020 | 1465 |
| Sullivan | 2020 | NA |
| Erie | 2020 | 4246 |
| Lebanon | 2020 | 2601 |
| Butler | 2020 | 4306 |
| Centre | 2020 | 748 |
| Potter | 2020 | NA |
| Cumberland | 2020 | 3379 |
| McKean | 2020 | NA |
| Columbia | 2020 | 1047 |
| Montgomery | 2020 | 12379 |
| Philadelphia | 2020 | 66946 |
| Allegheny | 2020 | 37794 |
| Juniata | 2020 | NA |
| Venango | 2020 | 1106 |
| Wyoming | 2020 | NA |
| Fulton | 2020 | NA |
| Somerset | 2020 | 1047 |
| Bucks | 2020 | 12827 |
| Elk | 2020 | NA |
| Lycoming | 2020 | 1973 |
| Chester | 2020 | 6907 |
| Pike | 2020 | 1465 |
| Bedford | 2020 | 1047 |
| Crawford | 2020 | 1615 |
| Lawrence | 2020 | 2542 |
| Montour | 2020 | NA |
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