In 2012, The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that jobs in the health services manager field would increase nationwide by 23% from 2012 through 2022. A recent look on a large job board shows a number of Oklahoma hospital manager positions available.
Openings listed include a Vice President of a major Oklahoma City hospital, a Home Care Executive Director, several Patient Services Managers, a Senior Clinic Manager, and more.
Pay for hospital managers in Oklahoma compares well to salaries nationwide. The BLS reports that the mean annual salary for health management in Oklahoma in 2012 was $84,260. While lower than the national average in dollars, it is still comparably close due to Oklahoma’s lower cost of living.
However, an issue facing Oklahoma hospitals could have a serious effect on manager positions.
Reducing Oklahoma Hospital Manager Positions
Rural hospitals in Oklahoma are losing money. Federal reports show that between 2009 and 2012, up to three-fourths of the hospitals with fewer than 100 beds had losses – more than half of those had losses in multiple years.
Since 2011, seven hospitals in Oklahoma have declared bankruptcy. Estimates are that one in five rural hospitals in Oklahoma are financially at risk and could be forced to shut down.
Closing rural hospitals result in a loss for residents of immediate health care, and increased inconvenience and risk from having to travel, sometimes hours, to the nearest facility. Also, hospitals are often one of the largest employers in most rural communities. The residents suffer, the local economy suffers, and competition for available positions for hospital managers becomes more intense with fewer hospitals.
Even with the hospitals that have avoided bankruptcy, financial pressures have led them to seek mergers with large health care groups. Those mergers can mean access to better technology and equipment at a lower cost, but it also involves consolidating and reducing manager positions for efficiency and reduced cost, reducing available positions.
Changing the Situation
Hospitals in Oklahoma are failing for some reason. Being outdated - lacking the equipment and technology patients have come to expect - is one of them.
Oklahoma hospital managers who will be in high demand include:
- Those who realize a need to bring in vendors to upgrade facilities and reduce operating costs
- Those who can embrace technology to improve efficiency and health care
- Those who can demonstrate why physicians should want to come to rural Oklahoma.
What do you feel is the solution for rural hospitals to stay in operation? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments box below.
If you own or manage an Oklahoma health care business, and you’re looking to become more efficient through the use of technology, download our free guide, Information Technology Guide for Oklahoma City Home Health Care Organizations.
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