Aggregated 50-State, Regional, and State-Level Trends in State and Local Government Health Employees in the U.S. From...

Area of Science:

• Public Health Employment Trends
• Health Workforce Analysis
• Government Health Sector Dynamics

Background:

• Understanding employment trends in state and local government health sectors is crucial for public health infrastructure.
• Previous research has not comprehensively analyzed national and regional shifts in this workforce over two decades.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine trends in U.S. state and local government health employees per million persons from 2000 to 2023.
• To identify regional and state-level variations in health workforce employment during this period.

Main Methods:

• Utilized repeated cross-sectional data from the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (2000-2023).
• Employed Joinpoint regression to calculate average annual percentage changes and identify significant trend shifts.
• Analyzed data at national, regional, and state levels, including full-time and part-time health employees.

Main Results:

• Overall U.S. state and local government health employment per million persons remained stable between 2000 and 2023.
• Significant regional variations were observed: Northeast (0.5% increase), Midwest (0.9% increase), South (-0.7% decrease), and West (0.1% increase).
• State-stratified analyses revealed further heterogeneity in employment trends, with most states showing decreases during the Great Recession and increases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusions:

• Stable and long-term funding is essential for recruiting, training, and retaining government health employees.
• Health policies must consider regional differences in health needs and employment patterns for effective workforce planning.
• Addressing regional variations is key to maintaining a robust public health workforce across the U.S.