Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Chains And Ladders: Exploring The Opportunities For Workforce Development And Poverty Reduction In The Hospital Sector, Laura Wolf-Powers, Marla Nelson

Laura Wolf-Powers

In this article, the authors investigate the potential of hospitals to offer low- and semiskilled workers employment and advancement options. This study uses the job chains approach to measuring economic development impacts devised by Persky, Felsenstein, and Carlson to compare hospitals with three other industries highly concentrated in central cities and examines the practical challenges facing workforce development professionals. The findings suggest that growth in hospital employment has the potential to outstrip the impact of growth in accommodations, legal services, and securities and commodities on the well-being of low-income workers and should prompt economic development practitioners to take the sector …