Lt. Gov Sara Rodriguez & the healthcare task force - Photo by WSAU's Tom Schumacher
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – Wisconsin’s Lt. Governor was in Wausau on Monday to discuss improving healthcare and dental access in rural communities across the state.
Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez discussed with local healthcare officials at Wausau’s Bridge Community Health Clinic what issues they were having, which included everything from hiring and retaining nurses, dentists, and dental hygienists to the need to make Badger Care more accessible.
“By 2040, we’re going to be short about 20,000 nurses just here in Wisconsin, so we have to make sure that we are supporting the nurses that we have and that we have a pipeline to ensure that we are graduating more, and we’re encouraging people to come to Wisconsin because it is a great place to work and these are great healthcare systems that can provide a fantastic career,” Rodriguez said while addressing the staffing shortages.
Rodriguez further noted that there are multiple reasons why the shortages could be happening, which included the state’s housing and childcare shortages as well as not having enough paid family leave for parents in the workforce.
Wisconsin does currently rank outside of the top 20 in the country when it comes to affordability studies, which is a slight drop from recent years, mostly due to inflation that has impacted the country as a whole, but has seen some improvements in recent months as the average home price sits around $290,926, which is 18% lower than the national average, according to a study by Shoreline Immigration. Wisconsin also had the second-highest quality of schools in the study’s top ten states, with a score of 49 out of 100.
The focus on healthcare and dental comes just over a week after Gov. Tony Evers signed five bills at Wausau’s NTC due to the college offering top-of-the-line dental hygienist and dental assistant programs. Other institutions scheduled to receive aid from the bills include Marquette University School of Dentistry and the Children’s Hospital Dental Center.
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