California's allied health sector growing rapidly

California's allied health industry should grow dramatically in coming decades, employing almost 1 million workers and generating $116 billion in wages, new research suggests. On the other hand, the study's authors are questioning whether the state's educational institutions are going to be able to train enough people to meet increases in demand.

The study, Help Wanted: Will California Miss Out on a Billion-Dollar Growth Industry, conducted by Beacon Economics, analyzed long-term workforce projects for 50 positions within allied health, including lab and x-ray techs, medical secretaries and nursing aides. It concluded that the allied health sector in California already employs more than 600,000 workers earning $23.3 billion in wages.

To meet the healthcare needs of California's projected population in the year 2030, the state will need an allied health worker base of about 988,000.  However, California can only train 634,000 allied health workers by that point, leaving one out of three allied health positions open.

To learn more about the study:
- read this press release [1]

- you can also read regional employment statistics [2] throughout the U.S. 

Related Articles:
Swine flu outbreak shines spotlight on lab-tech shortage [3]
MD hospitals face shortage of health professionals [4]