THE PROGRAM ON PUBLIC LIFE
WWW.SOUTHNOW.ORG OCTOBER 2 0 0 6 NUMBER2
FERREL GUILLORY
Director
guillory@unc.edu
THAD BEYLE
Associate Director
beyle@email.unc.edu
HODDING CARTER, III
Leadership Fellow
hoddingcarter@unc.edu
KENDRA DAVENPORT COTTON
Assistant Director for Programs
kendradc@unc.edu
ANDREW HOLTON
Assistant Director for Research
holton@unc.edu
D. LEROY TOWNS
Research Fellow
dltowns@email.unc.edu
THE PROGRAM ON PUBLIC LIFE
is a non-partisan organization dev¬
oted to serving the people of North
Carolina and the South by informing
the public agenda and nurturing
leadership.
To receive an electronic version or to
subscribe to the printed version, send
your name and email address
to southnow@unc.edu.
The Program on Public Life is part
of the Center for the Study of the
American South at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Carolina Context was printed with the
use of state funds. 750 copies of this
public document were printed at a
cost of $1,254, or $1.67 a copy.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
IN THIS SECOND CAROLINA CONTEXT, we’ve
called upon the expertise of two UNC health
policy researchers.
Erin Fraher is Director of the North Caro¬
lina Health Professions Data System at the Cedi
G. Shops Center for Health Sendees Research at
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(UNC-CH). Aaron McKethan is a Senior Associ¬
ate at The Lewin Group in Falls Church, V.A. and
a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy at UNC-CH.
Data in this report were compiled from the
U.S. Census Bureau, the NC State Data Center, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and numerous allied
health workforce studies conducted by the Cedi
G. Sheps Center for Health Sendees Research in
collaboration with the Council for Allied Health
in North Carolina. Funding for these studies was
provided by the North Carolina Ar ea Health Edu¬
cation Center (NC AHEC) Program andThe Duke
Endowment.
For additional reading on allied health, please
consult the following sources:
• Fraher, E. and McKethan, A. “Lurching
from Oversupply to Shortage”, Journal of Al¬
lied Health, under revision.
• Fraher, E. and McKethan A. 'The State of
Allied Health in North Carolina”, 2005, http://
www.shepscenter.mc.edu/hp/
• McKethan, A. “Health Care and Economic
Development: Five Critical Connections for
North Carolina,” www.southnow.org
• Thaker, S. Fraher, E. and King, J. “Allied
Health Job Vacancy Tracking Re/xu-t, 2006",
http://wwwshepscenter.unc.edu/hp/
• Gitterman,D.,Spetz,J. andFellowesM., “The
Other Side of the Ledger: Federal Health Spend¬
ing uiMefroixxlitanEconomies/'www.brookiixgs.
edu/ metro/pubs/ 20040g17_gitterman.htm
- FERREL GUILLORY
Director, Program on Public Life
FINDINGS
An analysis of allied health job opportunities across North Carolina shows that:
• In the past 1 0 years, the health care and social assistance industries — of which allied health
is a subset — added 160,000 jobs to the state's economy.
• Rural counties in particular have experienced high rates of growth in health care and social
assistance employment, adding more than 100,000 jobs since 1990. We estimate that
more than one-third of these jobs have been in allied health.
• The demand for allied health professions is likely to increase over time as the state 's popula¬
tion continues to grow and the median age increases. In contrast to traditional manufactur¬
ing industries, allied health care jobs represent a stable and growing employment sector.
• Increased developmen t of the state 's health care infrastructure will enhance economic
growth opportunities, particularly in areas attractive to retirees.
