HWS Labor Market PulseTM Index (LMPI)
Q2 2009 Results

September 2009

HWS is pleased to announce the release of Q2 results for the HWS Labor Market PulseTM Index (LMPI). The HWS LMPI is a leading indicator of local health care labor market demand as it is derived from announced expansion and contraction plans, among other data. The Index measures where near-term demand for health care workers is strongest based on a number of tracking variables including temporary health workforce shortages and surpluses, facility and bed closures, announced layoffs and expansions, and local economic trends.

2009 Second Quarter LMPI Highlights

• Near-term demand for health care workers growing fastest in Charlotte, Los Angeles, and Kansas City for the second quarter of 2009. Chicago, Sacramento and Detroit, ranked at the bottom of the 30 markets studied.

• Much of this growth is being fueled by newly announced expansion plans and larger facility openings at organizations including Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte and Kaiser Permanente in Hollywood.

• In metropolitan markets including Chicago, Sacramento and Detroit, growth has slowed considerably, and may actually have resulted in net job loss for certain occupations due to layoffs, employee furloughs and derailed expansion plans.

• In the most recent quarter, 20 markets of the 30 tracked showed signs of accelerated expansion (vs. 11 in the prior quarter) and only 10 markets fell below national averages.

• The LMPI composite index, a representative basket of the 30 largest markets, posted a 22% increase in the second quarter of 2009 from the first quarter of 2009, as the national health care labor market began to rebound from a slow fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of this year.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Access to the full LMPI executive summary including all top line data and one full market report is available for $99 USD. For more information contact sales@healthws.com.

Access to the entire LMPI set of 30 reports plus the detailed executive summary is available for $1,995 USD and to all LMP Research members as part of their annual subscription. For more information contact sales@healthws.com.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

LMP Methodology

Labor Market Pulse scours local press releases, new articles and other verifiable sources to quantify the impact of acute and urgent care facility expansion and closures, large scale recruitment, and temporary workforce reduction announcements.

A proprietary estimate of net job creation (or reduction) is at the heart of the HWS Labor Market Pulse^TM Index (LMPI). The estimated net job creation is then adjusted for state labor market information estimates including total acute care employment in the local market, local employment trends, and other economic indicators included in this report. These adjustments allow Labor Market Pulse to compare local markets to each other and to larger national and international trends.

National health care workforce growth estimates are based on seasonally adjusted hospital employment estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Employment Situation New Release” available online at:

http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/empsit_nr.htm.

Details of Labor Market Pulse estimates and adjustments are held in strict confidence by Health Workforce Solutions LLC and considered trade secrets. For more information on this and other health workforce indices and indicators, contact info@healthws.com.