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A new report from California Health Jobs suggests that the state will need to grow and maintain a workforce of nearly 1 million allied health professionals by 2030 to meet anticipated patient demand, Health Leaders reports. Released using funding from a grant from The California Wellness Foundation, the report is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, and several agencies that document current and future workforce needs. According to the report, California currently has 605,153 allied health professionals employed in approximately 50 different career tracks. However, by 2030, the state will lose much of this workforce to retirement, death and natural attrition. To meet anticipated demand, the state will need to grow and maintain a workforce of nearly 988,000 allied health professionals. However, California's education system is on track to train and certify just 634,000 allied health workers by 2030, representing between 63 percent and 79 percent of the allied health workers the state will need. Although the data suggests that almost one-half of the expected allied health openings will be entry level positions that can be filled with individuals who have a high school education, the remaining positions will likely be filled by workers from other states or by California residents who have obtained training elsewhere. Reflecting on the findings, one study author says that the data demonstrates "ample opportunity in the allied health industry" and "makes a strong case for expanding the capacity of California's education system to train allied health workers" (Clark, Health Leaders, 9/23/09; California Health Jobs release, 9/22/09; California Health Jobs report, September 2009).