ROCHESTER — Jobs in the health care sector in Southeast Minnesota have rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic and are at the highest level ever recorded, according to a new Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development analysis. However, worker shortages remain, as hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities were short-staffed before 2020. And the job gains in recent years are not spread equally across the health care industry's subsectors.
In the 11-county region of southeastern Minnesota, health care and social assistance makes up 27.3% of total employment, with 66,409 jobs. From 2019-2023, the number of jobs in this industry rose 0.
2%, counteracting the loss of jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "Employment in the Health Care & Social Assistance industry has recovered all jobs lost due to the pandemic and now has the highest number of jobs ever recorded in Southeast Minnesota," the DEED report states. "Two of the three subsectors have experienced job gains since 2019.
" While hospitals added 717 jobs (4.8% increase) and ambulatory health care services gained 590 jobs (1.8% increase) since 2019, the third subsector, nursing and residential care facilities, has experienced an 8.
5% decline in jobs. ADVERTISEMENT "This is not only a statewide trend, but a national trend," said Nichole Mattson, vice president of strategic initiatives with Care Providers of Minnesota, a nonprofit advocacy group for long-term care providers. "Our sector has not recovered many of the.
