The health care industry will be short 100,000 physical, occupational and speech therapists in six years, according to U.S. labor projections.

The State House of Representatives Health Care Reform Task Force met Tuesday in Oklahoma City to discuss the shortage’s effect on the state’s future.

Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, chairman of the task force, said in the next 10 years, the No. 1 shortage will be pharmacists, followed by lab technicians.

“Anytime there is a shortage in the labor force, you have to pay more to get them, which raises costs of health care,” said Cox, the only medical doctor in the legislature.

Cox said the shortage of medical workers affects Oklahomans’ access to medical care. He said the need to mitigate the shortage is driven by the increase in aging baby boomers, who are retiring and requiring rehabilitation.

Cox said OU is the state’s medical training hub and will play a large role in addressing the shortage.

“I need to make sure we’re funding training programs sufficiently,” Cox said.

In order to combat the shortage, Cox said he is trying to increase scholarships available through universities and hospitals.

He said many hospitals will pay for a student’s education in return for a job upon graduation.

Susan Tucker, assistant dean in the College of Allied Health, said there is a large applicant pool for allied health professions, which includes fields such as nutrition, physical therapy and speech-language pathology. She said most of these students stay in Oklahoma after graduation because clinical rotations root them in the state and help them find a job.

“We are using taxpayer dollars to train professionals, and we will do all we can to get them to stay in Oklahoma,” Cox said.

Tucker said the annual applicant pool in allied health is around 200 applicants, but only 60 students are admitted.

“Allied health careers are one of the fastest growing segments of the health care industry, and the need for more graduates is only going to grow over the next 10 years,” Kevin Rudeen, dean of the College of Allied Health, said in a press release.

Class sizes are evaluated, controlled and studied by the accrediting bodies, Tucker said.

“Accrediting bodies pay attention to supply and demand,” Tucker said. “They pay attention to class sizes and graduates across the nation.”

The accrediting body has input on class sizes and OU can try and negotiate with them to increase or decrease those sizes, Tucker said.

“We are focused on excellence in education and there are lots of factors influencing that,” she said.

The Oklahoma Health Care Workforce Center was created to help people continue their education. The center also works with universities to offer more courses online and use more simulators, since there are not enough clinical training sites.

Last year, the center increased the state’s supply of nurses by 300 through online courses.

Tucker said OU does not want to increase its class sizes without the faculty or resources to work with students one-on-one.

“There is a shortage of faculty members to teach health care because academic salaries are not comparable with those in the private sector,” Cox said.