Updated: 04\/25\/2013 11:23 PM Created: 04\/25\/2013 10:13 PM KSTP.com | Print| Email By: Scott Theisen<\/p>\n
Minnesota is facing a looming workforce crisis when it comes to long-term home health care. <\/p>\n
Baby Boomers are aging, and the projected need for personal care assistants in the next decade far exceeds the number of people entering the field. <\/p>\n
Health care advocates say it's difficult to attract and retain quality workers due to low wages and a lack of benefits. <\/p>\n
KSTP investigated just how this so called \"care gap\" is already creating problems statewide. <\/p>\n
Every day from 8 a.m to 4 p.m., Becky Pollack tends to Sharon Bramhall's most intimate needs. <\/p>\n
Once a nurse herself, a botched sinus surgery led to an ongoing series of medical problems for Bramhall, and she ended up with a spinal fluid leak. <\/p>\n
And if Becky weren't here, she wouldn't be at home. \"At this point, (I'd probably be) dead,\" said Bramhall. <\/p>\n
In 2011, nearly 27,000 people in Minnesota were deemed eligible for PCA benefits. That's more than double the number of recipients the program served in 2002. <\/p>\n
The 2011 spending topped $422 million in state and federal dollars. <\/p>\n
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MN Faces Looming Workforce Crisis for Long-Term Home Health Care<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Updated: 04\/25\/2013 11:23 PM Created: 04\/25\/2013 10:13 PM KSTP.com | Print| Email By: Scott Theisen Minnesota is facing a looming workforce crisis when it comes to long-term home health care. Continue reading