It is hoped the new program will help counties like Scotland where there is a severe shortage of physical therapists.
"We're extremely excited about UNC-P's program to train some more rehab staff. The demand greatly exceeds the supply for quality therapists and assistants, said Greg Wood, CEO and president of Scotland HealthCare System in Laurinburg.
A study of allied health professionals in the nine-county area around UNCP that was funded by a $50,000 Commerce Department planning grant and led by the Southern Regional AHEC, found that physical therapists. and physical therapist assistants (were the most in demand.
“We surveyed human resource departments in the region’s hospitals, which are the major employers of the allied health workforce, and the response was unanimous that PTs and PTAs were on top of their list,” said Amy Vega, director of Allied Health and Interdisciplinary Education for Southern Regional AHEC, the agency, which conducted the study.
“Unanimously, human resources professionals reported that PTs and PTAs are the shortest in supply among all allied health professions in the region, and are the hardest to recruit and retain,” Vega said.
Physical therapists tend to practice in metropolitan areas of the state, according to a 2006 report from the UNC Cecil S. Sheps Center for Health Services Research titled “Trends in Licensed Health Professions in North Carolina 1979-2005.” The number of PTs in 2005 for metropolitan areas was 4.96 per 1,000 residents, but for the non-metropolitan areas was 2.91, the report concluded.
The Sheps report found there were 2,926 active PTs in metropolitan area counties of N.C., while there were 823 active PTs in rural areas. This is the experience for recruiters at First Health of the Carolinas in Pinehurst.
“I was at Western Carolina University (in February) talking with PT students,” said Teresa Sessoms, recruitment director for First Health. “The majority of students want to stay in the mountains. In Chapel Hill, they want to stay in the Triangle or another urban area.
“PTs typically want to stick around home,” Sessoms said. “Long term, it would be beneficial to have a program in our region. If we train them here, we’re more likely to keep them here.”
Demand for allied health professionals is expected to increase over the next decade, fueled in part by North Carolina’s growing and aging population, the Sheps report concluded. Eight-out-of-10 fastest growing occupations in the state are allied health professions.
Of the 12 counties in Southeastern North Carolina, nine are below median for all state counties for physical therapists per 10,000 people, the Sheps Center study said. Seven counties are below the state average of 2.32 physical therapists per 10,000 population.
"Hospitals have been working with UNC-P and Dr. Meadors for a long time to get this program started," Wood said. "We are extremely excited and look forward to him producing some quality graduates who understand and will stay in the region to take care of the patients all of us serve."
UNCP officials say the university is well positioned to offer a doctorate or a master’s in physical therapy program. In 2005, the University launched its 4-year, bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program to compliment its RN to BSN program.
The BSN program is located on the SRMC’s campus, and the university is ready to break ground on a $29 million health professions building that could be home to the new program.
The nursing program, with an enrollment of approximately 200, benefitted from its partnership with SRMC, a leading health care provider in the region. UNCP enjoys broad support in its proposal from a coalition of hospitals in the region.
“The health of the region lags behind the state and nation, in part, because we lag behind in training of health care professionals,” Chancellor Allen Meadors said. “UNCP has the facilities and other tools necessary to launch a high quality physical therapy program.”
Having a program at UNCP would also provide the region’s students an opportunity to stay in the area and attend an affordable, state-supported program, he said.
“It’s an opportunity to improve the human capital of our region’s people,” Chancellor Meadors said.
University officials also stressed that the proposed program would have a positive impact on the local economy.
Allied health jobs represent a large and increasingly important economic growth potential for the state, numerous studies show, said Dr. Charles Harrington, UNCP’s provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.
“Allied health jobs represent not only a large, stable and increasingly important employment sector in the state, but are an engine for economic growth,” Dr. Harrington said. “Data indicates that between 1999-2005 allied health employment in North Carolina grew by 46 percent.”
Planning support
As part of the planning process for a physical therapy program, the University is using the consulting services of Dr. David Lake, chair the Department of Physical Therapy at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga., and Dr. Peggy Opitz, a retired professor and former chair of UNCP Nursing Department.
UNCP administrators have visited programs at Armstrong Atlantic State University, East Carolina University (ECU) and Medical University of South Carolina in developing the University’s proposal.
UNCP also met with representatives of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy (CAPTE) on matters of program development and accreditation. ECU’s Physical Therapy Chair, Dr. Dennis Brunt, is assisting UNCP in its physical therapy program proposal and space allocation for the new building to house physical therapy.
UNCP was approached by a group of 13 regional hospitals requesting the University establish a degree program to educate and prepare physical therapists. The hospital consortium agreed tentatively to fund a portion of the start-up expenses for the proposed physical therapy program during its first seven years.
“The power of these partnerships is critical to our proposal,” Chancellor Meadors said. “The interest of our region’s hospitals in the best indicator of the need for this program at UNCP.
“A DPT program would strengthen our entire University,” he said. “A program of this type may pave the way for other professional health care programs.”
That conclusion is supported by a 2006, UNC General Administration study titled, “Mission and Future Agenda Study-Phase I,” which said that UNCP should establish physical therapy as a “signature academic program”
Six physical therapy programs are in North Carolina. Duke University and Elon University offer the Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT). UNC-Chapel Hill, East Carolina University, Western Carolina University, and Winston-Salem State University offer the Master’s in Physical Therapy degree (MPT).
Post a Comment
