9-27-2019 Handout Elder Boom Worker Shortage

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takes one or two of the girls being sick, or one of the two of them quitting, for me to not be covered. And then you're up the creek without a paddle." With its 65 -and -older population expected to grow by 55 percent by 2026, Maine needs more nurses, more home -care workers and more physicians than ever to keep pace with demand for long -term -care services. But the rising demand for care is occurring simultaneously with a dangerously low supply of workers. About one-third of Maine's physicians are older than 6o. In several rural counties in the state, close to half of the registered nurses are 55 or older and expected to retire or cut back their hours within a decade. Maine's largest long -term -care provider, North Country Associates, has been forced to temporarily close admissions in each of its 26 nursing homes because of staffing shortages, sometimes for as long as several months, in an unprecedented change from a few years ago. It has also permanently shut down two of its nursing homes over the past year, while about a dozen nursing homes across the state have closed their doors over the pass: several years. Mary Jane Richards, chief operating officer at North Country Associates, said she has already raised wages four or five times in a bid to hire or retain staff. "There are simply just not enough people to go around," she said. "We try to elevate our wages, but then the nearest facility brings theirs up." Betsy Sawyer-Manter, president of the SeniorsPlus agency responsible for placing care workers with Medicaid enrollees, said she was not surprised by Flaherty's story of failing to find a worker for her mother, despite qualifying for care. Sawyer-Manter said that every week her