 Tonight we continue our look at the current workforce shortage in the Brainerd Lakes region and find that there are certain industries that are currently trying to get ahead of the problem before it gets out of hand. Our Logan Gay is in our Brainerd studio with more. Logan? Yes, Dennis, well as I researched the workforce shortage I was surprised to find out that it's not only hurting our commercial businesses but also our hospitals. Many hospitals are preparing themselves for a nearby workforce shortage in the future.. Hospitals like Hyuna Regional Medical Center are facing an approaching staff shortage. We're looking at an impending physician shortage. By about 2025, we're gonna start to see a decline in the number of physicians that are working. And so we're gonna have to, you know, step up our game as we plan for that. The shortage of staff is not only physicians. Definitely impacts physicians but also nurse practitioners, nurses, both registered nurses, LPNs, medical assistants all the way through all of our care team to include housekeeping and other support type of positions. Currently CRMC employs over 1000 people between their four facilities. In order to prepare for the shortage of physicians, CRMC starts recruiting early. We're working three and four and five years out, you know, to recruit physicians to come here and have them commit to working here. Having a shortage of doctors means longer periods patients could go without being seen. We don't want to ever lose physicians that we have here because it's going to affect how our patients are seen by our medical staff. If we have shortage of doctors, there is going to be such a long wait for patients to be seen by a physician. Part of BuyMark's job as a physician recruiter is not only to use the hospital as a recruiting tool, but also the community. That's one thing that I've noticed with the next generation is that work-life balance is extremely important to them. You know, this generation is about getting home, getting active. And one of the advantages that we have here specifically in Crosby. One of the ways essential health has been working to improve the shortage is by helping qualified individuals further their education. In the past couple of years, we've supported over 40 of our employees to go back to school to further their education, including we have sponsored over six people to receive their nurse practitioner degree over 22 registered nurses to go on and get a bachelor's degree. And so that's one of the ways that we've been trying to improve the workforce. Holly Swanson, a nurse practitioner at the essential health baxter clinic, recognized the need for workers in the health field and has won the many nurses and physicians who benefited from the scholarships essential health provides. Being able to apply what I'm learning in school in the field and staying up to date on current practices and making those connections was so beneficial to me as I started my new career as a nurse practitioner and having all that clinical knowledge. The scholarships that I was able to receive during school helped me to work part time and go to school full time. And while doing my research, I also found out that essential health also partners up with central east college to support their nursing students. Alright, well, thank you very much Logan for that report tonight. Tomorrow we will finish the three part series on the workforce shortage by discussing the solution to the problem and a reminder if you've missed any portion of the series you can watch them all on our website, Lakeland news.org. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland news, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.