•Press Release Health and Social Programs United States
August 15, 2016
For Immediate Release: August 15, 2016
Contact: Tillie McInnis, (202) 293-5380 x117
Washington D.C. – The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) is launching a project to understand the impact of health care restructuring on the quality of jobs and economic security of low-paid health care workers. Of particular interest is how pay and working conditions change as jobs shift from hospitals to lower-cost outpatient facilities – and whether these changes differentially affect workers by gender, race, ethnicity, age, and education. The research will also address whether different management approaches lead to better or worse outcomes for these workers.
This project is funded by a $250,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and will be completed by November 30, 2017. CEPR’s Senior Economist Eileen Appelbaum and Cornell University’s Rosemary Batt will lead the project.
Dr. Appelbaum and Professor Batt will analyze nationally representative data sets on employment by industry and occupation, will conduct case studies of health care systems, and will interview managers, workers, and union leaders to understand the nature and significance of this shift in jobs from hospitals to outpatient care centers. “We want to understand what is happening to the work schedules, skill demands, wages, and benefits of workers in outpatient facilities compared to those employed in similar jobs in hospitals,” said Professor Batt.
“We are interested in learning whether it matters if workers in outpatient facilities are employees of an integrated health care system or if they are employed by a company that contracts with hospitals to provide outpatient services,” added Dr. Appelbaum.
The researchers have a distinguished history of analyzing industry restructuring and are well-positioned to investigate the organizational and employment implications of the decentralization of health care services.
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The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) is a non-partisan economic think tank based in Washington D.C. and promotes democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people’s lives. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so that the public is better informed.
