Luring Out-of-State Professionals Is Just the First Step in Solving Montana’s Health Worker Shortage

Jenna Eisenhart spent nearly six years as a licensed therapist in Colorado before deciding to move to a place with a greater need for her services. She researched rural states facing a shortage of behavioral health providers and accepted a job as a lead clinical primary therapist at Shodair Children’s Hospital in Helena, Montana, in January 2018. But she couldn’t start her new job right away because state officials denied her application for a license to practice in Montana on the grounds that her master’s degree program required only 48 credits to complete instead of 60. Eisenhart spent nearly $7,000 to earn 12 more credits to meet the requirement, some...

Read the full post at Syndicate – Kaiser Health News