Updated: 04/25/2013 11:23 PM Created: 04/25/2013 10:13 PM KSTP.com | Print| Email By: Scott Theisen

Minnesota is facing a looming workforce crisis when it comes to long-term home health care.

Baby Boomers are aging, and the projected need for personal care assistants in the next decade far exceeds the number of people entering the field.

Health care advocates say it's difficult to attract and retain quality workers due to low wages and a lack of benefits.

KSTP investigated just how this so called "care gap" is already creating problems statewide.

Every day from 8 a.m to 4 p.m., Becky Pollack tends to Sharon Bramhall's most intimate needs.

Once a nurse herself, a botched sinus surgery led to an ongoing series of medical problems for Bramhall, and she ended up with a spinal fluid leak.

And if Becky weren't here, she wouldn't be at home. "At this point, (I'd probably be) dead," said Bramhall.

In 2011, nearly 27,000 people in Minnesota were deemed eligible for PCA benefits. That's more than double the number of recipients the program served in 2002.

The 2011 spending topped $422 million in state and federal dollars.

Link:

MN Faces Looming Workforce Crisis for Long-Term Home Health Care