UW CHWS Affiliate Investigator Rachel Prusynski was quoted in a Kitsap Sun article focusing on the effects of immigration policy on Washington’s long-term care workforce. The piece highlighted findings from a legislative report produced last year by UW CHWS staff in collaboration with the Workforce Board, which projected that the state’s population of adults over 65 will grow by 14% by 2030—more than twice the overall growth rate. Over half of those older adults are expected to need some form of long-term care, placing even greater strain on an already overburdened system.
That strain, Prusynski warns, could be made worse by the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies. “Most nursing homes have had a staffing crisis for many years. The immigration crackdowns will make it worse,” she said. “People I don’t think realize how much our health system is buoyed by immigrants.”
Read more here and check out the featured study: Washington Long-Term Care Workforce Research.