With an aging population, South Carolina will face a critical shortage of health-care workers in the future. Elected officials, however, could mitigate the predicted shortage of workers -- ranging from nurses to doctors and public-health specialists -- by forward-thinking actions today. Specifically, we need more investment in programs to educate health-care workers.

An irony that underscores the problem is that plenty of qualified applicants want to attend South Carolina nursing schools but the schools have too few slots available. Officials say that about half of the qualified applicants are turned down because nursing schools lack the staff needed to train them.

Colleges have trouble recruiting nursing teachers because they can make more money working elsewhere in the health-care field. State lawmakers have to help colleges pay the competitive salaries needed to hire and retain nursing teachers.

The shortage here is such that South Carolina already draws about 40 percent of its nurses from out of state. But the number of nurses available nationwide also is diminishing.

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Doctors also will be in short supply in the future. South Carolina, which already ranks 36th in the nation in the number of physicians per capita, will need 41 percent more primary care doctors by 2020, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The AAMC recommends enlarging medical schools and hiring more faculty to accommodate more students. It points out that in 2006 there were 39,109 applicants but only 17,370 first-year students.

Another organization, the American Public Health Association, says the nation faces critical shortages of public health workers, including epidemiologists, laboratory technicians and environmental health professionals. Vacancy rates are as high as 20 percent in some states, the organizations says. It recommends federally funded scholarship and loan repayment programs, renewed investment in public health services and expanded internships and fellowships in federal health agencies such as the National Institutes of Health.

State investment in health-care education makes good economic sense in a state known for higher-than-average unemployment. While state leaders are striving to bring automotive jobs to South Carolina, as they should, they also should be doing everything they can to produce more jobs in the health-care sector.

Many industries may falter in the coming years but the demand for health-care workers is certain to increase due to a growing number of elderly people and seriously ill patients. The state is almost certain to see a shortage of health-care workers, although the problem can be eased by wise planning on the part of state leaders.

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