Another reason to welcome immigrants

Where would we be without the immigrant professionals who fill a significant number of health care positions, both locally and nationally?

Foreign-born medical professionals are increasingly important to maintaining the quality of health care in this country. Their numbers are sure to increase as demand for health care services grows.

Reasonably flexibile immigration policy could help accommodate this growing need.

Most recent figures indicate that, as of 2006, 27 percent of all physicians and surgeons in this country were immigrants. Foreign-born workers accounted for one in every five nursing, psychiatric and home health aides and more than one in six dentists, pharmacists and clinical laboratory technicians.

The Immigration Policy Center in Washington says most foreign-born health care professionals become naturalized U.S. citizens. Many get their training in U.S. schools. And many foreign-born health-care professionals work in specialties where demand already outstrips the supply of natives.

Jobs such as primary-care physicians, which already can be difficult to fill, are expected to become even more so as our population ages.

Department of Health and Human Services estimates show there were 6,204 primary-care provider shortage areas with 65 million residents fall. It would take 16,643 more practitioners to meet that need.

Here in Iowa, the department has identified nearly 300 primary care health professional shortage areas. They estimated the state was short 86 primary-care physicians, including needs in Benton, Black Hawk, Buchanan and Cedar counties.

A 2008 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges predicted a shortage of at least 124,000 physicians in the United States by 2025.

Simply educating and training more native-born workers to become physicians won't be enough to meet the demand, that report concluded.

In fact, Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts there will be significant numbers of job openings in health care occupations that already employ many foreign-born workers, such as nurses, medical assistants and home health aides.

Recruiting foreign-born doctors and other medical professionals is one way to meet the demand for services.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Spokesman Tom Moore told us that hospital system has staff physicians from countries as varied as Jordan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Iceland, Russia and the Dominican Republic. He said that international staff is a positive thing for the hospital and its patients, and enriches the community's diversity. Other area medical teams have similar international bents.

Highly qualified, dedicated health care workers are welcome and needed here - no matter where they were born.