Increasing demand for health care workers in Houston

Up 37 percent

Matt Dietrichson, Jul 17, 12.

Major health care labor markets are expanding across the country in the wake of the Affordable Care Act, and the Houston region will see much of that growth, according to Houston CultureMap:

Demand is up for health care professionals in the Houston area following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on President Barack Obama’s polemic Affordable Care Act.

The second quarter Labor Market Pulse Index (LMPI) from Health Workforce Solutions LLC, which measures temporary health workforce shortages and surpluses, facility and bed closures, announced layoffs and expansions and local economic trends, is at its highest level nationwide since mid-2010, with 17 out of 30 major health care labor markets showing signs of accelerated expansion.

Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land ranks fifth among those areas seeing rapid growth, with a second quarter index of 65.7, up 37 percent over the first quarter’s 48.0 LMPI showing.

Metropolitan areas ranking higher than Houston in demand include San Jose, Calif., Portland, Ore., Charlotte, N.C. and Denver.

The report noted a local upswing due to the Moody Foundation’s gift of $25.5 million to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston; Victory Healthcare’s recently-announced plans for two new hospitals, in west Houston and The Woodlands; and a planned expansion by University General Health System Inc., which revealed intentions to add five new hospitals and hire 250 to 400 employees over the next two years.