In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many industries experienced a shrinking workforce, and one of those hardest hit by the trend was the healthcare field.

“Since around 2020, there has been a serious shortage of nurses in Pennsylvania and really throughout the country,” said Jonah Milliken, director of BAYADA’s Williamsport office.

Once given the okay by a physician, patients are typically approved for 80 hours of homecare per week.

“As a whole, the homecare industry is staffing about 70% of those hours, which means that 30% of the time somebody who needs a nurse doesn’t have a nurse,” Milliken explained.

“As of 2026, Pennsylvania is short about 20,000 nurses, according to the latest sources, he added.

While this is a tedious situation for all patients, it can be an especially worrying situation for children.

“If a child needs nursing services at home and nurses aren’t available, then their parent has to be home with them, which means that that parent can’t be at work,” he said, adding that parents may also be forced to work all day, then care for their child throughout the night.

“If it’s an adult who receives nursing services, if a nurse isn’t available, there’s a good chance that that adult ends up in a nursing home or long-term care facility,” Milliken, stressing that while such facilities play a vital role, the goal is always to keep patients in their own homes.

One of the biggest gaps currently is in home health aides.

“As a home health aide, you just need one year of professional caregiver experience, so it is an entry level position,” Milliken explained, adding that there is a program offered to those with no prior experience, which includes 75 hours of training, with ongoing annual training and support.

Though the training required is less substantial, the hiring process is just as rigid as it is for all of BAYADA’s employees.

“Every person hired by BAYADA as a home health aide undergo multiple background checks and clearances and work reference verifications, and an orientation where they work in our simulation lab under the oversight and direction of a registered nurse (RN) clinical educator. So they have to pass training in the office prior to working in the field,” Milliken said.

“They have to demonstrate competency prior to working in the field, so we’re not just sending people out to work with a client without any training or direction. Whenever anybody gets hired by us, they’re going to shadow another existing employee,” he explained.

“Every client has an RN clinical manager that oversees their case, so every home health aide or LPN or RN in the field, also has an RN that oversees them as their clinical supervisor. So there’s a lot of checks and balances,” Milliken said.

To face the shortage head on, BAYADA has recently increased investment in its workforce and career development, including a scholarship program called Advance Through Nursing, which helps to get home health aides the training they need without the rigors of getting certified as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or RNs.

“We can’t just sit back and wait for somebody to figure this out, or more nurses to just appear,” he said.

“A home health aide is somebody who provides personal care assistance to somebody, such as help in the bathroom, getting dressed, preparing meals at home or getting around their home,” Milliken said, adding the position does not require obtaining a license.

BAYADA’s program provides up to $15,000 of financial assistance to home health aides going through the program as they pursue their first nursing licensure.

The scholarship pays $5,000 up front, with $10,000 in ongoing loan repayment post-graduation.

Participants are then enrolled in BAYADA’s Home Care Nurse Residency Program, where they receive mentorship and hands-on learning, including the organization’s simulation lab, utilizing automated mannequins.

They also provide direct care to clients, along with tenured nurses, and receive education through more traditional methods over seven weeks, after which they work independently with clients, while still receiving mentoring.

Milliken said several factors have contributed to the shortage their program aims to address, including stress.

“Burnout is a big deal with nurses working in long term care facilities where they’re tasked with taking care of 30 residents or getting mandated to work long hours, and we’ve seen that in home care too,” he said.

“Another piece is stagnant wages,” Milliken said.

“The state legislature sets Medicaid reimbursement rates, and because we haven’t seen an increase in reimbursement rates on Medicaid, in many cases, nurses haven’t seen raises,” he explained.

To help promote the program and highlight the shortage overall, BAYADA will be holding a meeting with state representatives Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport and Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township later this month.

“When the state invests in home care through Medicaid, which is state-direct funded, we can take that money and do creative things like create workforce development programs,” Milliken said.

“And, for the majority of our clients, their services are paid for by Medicaid,” Milliken said.

“We can help keep kids and adults out of the hospital, because it’s much more expensive for somebody to receive care in the hospital or in a nursing home than it is to provide care for them at their own home,” he stressed, adding that it is “a privilege for us to be able to provide care to the people we provide care to kids and adults with specialized medical needs.”

“We are focused on providing the most compassionate, excellent, reliable care. Those are our core values,” Milliken said.

“At the end of the day, providing the best care we can to our clients is the most important thing we can do, and the only way I, as director, can do that is by employing the best people I possibly can, and the only way I could do that is by being a great employer, where people want to work and they feel appreciated and they have opportunities to grow,” he said.

Anyone interested in BAYADA’s Advance Through Nursing program or any of their other job openings is encouraged to visit their office at 209 E. Third St, or their career site at bayada.com/jobs.