U.S. Mexico Border Workforce

The health workforce is a key contributor to the quality of life of the border population and a critical element in reaching Healthy Border 2010 goals. The research described in this paper uses data from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Border County Health Workforce Profiles (2007) developed under a contract with the Regional Center for Health Workforce Studies (RCHWS) of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The authors are the Principal Investigator and the Project Manager of the research project. The data-gathering project was a first systematic effort to assemble, in one consistent database, current information on the Border health workforce as well as relevant population characteristics, and basic health indicators. County-level data were obtained from state health agencies and health professions' licensing boards, verified for comparability and consistency and used to develop social and health indicators. Healthy Border 2010 objectives guided the selection of the health indicators. Results for the entire border area were compared to border region and state totals for Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, in addition to the four border states and the nation. The authors indicate that border health workforce problems such as uneven demographic distribution, rapid population expansion, health workforce maldistribution, low health insurance rates, and socioeconomic barriers to access to care are the result of multiple factors that require multiple, decentralized, and simultaneous interventions. They conclude making recommendations for the challenge of creating a health workforce capable of addressing the increasingly urgent border health needs.