Illinois Business Journal Illinois Business Journal
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Universal healthcare proposal to be delivered to governor and legislature
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After 18 months of research, review, meetings and public hearings, the Adequate Health Care Task Force is ready to present a plan for universal health care in the state of Illinois.		 . By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   A legislatively mandated task force is putting the finishing touches on a universal healthcare program to be delivered to the governor and the legislature in mid-January for consideration in the spring 2007 session.
   The 29-member Adequate Health Care Task Force was created as a result of the Health Care Justice Act, legislation sponsored by Democratic U.S. Sen. Barack Obama in 2004, when he was a state senator, and enacted that same year.
   The act established the [continue]

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Hospital teams up with colleges to battle nursing shortage epidemic
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By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   A nationwide shortage of nurses is bad and getting worse, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Bureau of Health Professions. It estimates that one out of every five positions will be left unfilled by the year 2020.
   Erin McKeon, associate director of government affairs for the American Nurses Association, says the problem is multifaceted but stems from a lack of college nursing faculty.
   McKeon says the nursing profession as a whole has done a great job of creating interest among high [continue]

 The baby boom, inadequate funding and a lack of college instructors together are creating a large and growing shortage of nurses across the United States.
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If the Bureau of Labor's projection holds true, by mid 2008 the U.S. will have only 154 million workers to fill 160 million jobs. The shortage is expected to continue for 10 years.		 . Labor bureau says 2008 will bring U.S. worker deficit
By KERRY L. SMITH

   By 2008, there will be at least six million more available jobs than there will be people to fill them in the United States.
   That news by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics is startling, particularly to employers already facing the steep challenge of finding, training and retaining quality workers in a tight labor market and during record low unemployment.
   Denise Figueiredo, president of the

national board of directors of the National Human Resources Association, has worked in recruiting for 25 years. She says what's going on in the labor market is that employers are frantically trying to retain their current employees as recruiters try to "raid" companies. It's a talent war that human resource professionals talk about daily, she says.
   "This shortage of people is very widespread," said Figueiredo, whose firm is located in Ventura County, Calif. "The Bureau of Labor says it's going to hit in 2008, but we're already in the midst of it now out here and it's going to get worse. The only thing that would stop it would be if something disastrous would happen to the economy, and that's not [continue]