by Christine Graf
During the past decade, the number of board-certified physician assistants (PAs) has increased more than 75 percent, with more than 168,000 currently practicing in the field. Each year, PAs are responsible for more than 500 million patient interactions, collaborating with physicians and surgeons to diagnose and treat patients.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the PA profession will increase 28 percent from 2021 to 2031. Currently, the demand for PAs is so high that 75 percent of graduates receive multiple job offers upon graduation.
In the late 1960s, Duke University established the country’s first physician assistant program. There are now 245 accredited programs in the United States, one of them at Albany Medical College where 42 PAs graduate each year from the 28-month program. Established in 1972, Albany Med’s PA program began as a collaboration with Hudson Valley Community College.
According to the statistics compiled by New York’s Department of Education Office of the Professions, there were more than 22,000 PAs practicing in New York as of January 1, 2024. That number includes 295 in Saratoga County, 84 in Warren County, 29 in Essex County, 16 in Washington County, and just 2 in Hamilton County.
Glens Falls Hospital is one of the largest employers of PAs in the area, with 75 PAs working at its 20 locations throughout the region. With a service area of 6,000 square miles, the hospital provides services in Warren, Washington, Essex, Hamilton, and northern Saratoga counties
According to Antoinetta Backus, physician recruitment and retention manager at Glens Falls Hospital, PAs are integral to the operation of the hospital.
“Physician assistants are essential to our practice. They are a huge part of our team here at Glens Falls Hospital. We have physician assistants and advanced practice providers in every specialty,” she said.
Backus is currently working to fill two open PA positions at the hospital. A Certified Physician Recruiter, she has been in her current position since 2012.
“We’ve been fairly successful with our most recent recruitment, and when it comes to the difficulty of filling a position, it depends on the specialty,” she said. “We also have a fair number of new grads that have an interest in coming to Glens Falls Hospital.”
Although the hospital does hire newly-graduated PAs, certain positions require candidates to have experience within a particular specialty. PAs are trained as generalists, and it is not until working in the field that they have the opportunity to specialize in one of more than 60 specialties. Regardless of specialty or experience level, all PAs must work under the direction of a supervising physician.
At Glens Falls Hospital, all new PA school graduates must undergo a comprehensive orientation and mentoring process.
“We recognize the importance of mentoring and support for the new grads and want to be sure that these folks are going to be comfortable in their practice,” said Backus. “We don’t schedule them to be on their own. We have the support there for these new providers, and new grads need and deserve this kind of support. We want to help them be successful.”
Within the hospital, Backus said the scope of practice for PAs varies by department.
“Each department dictates how they want their PAs to practice. For example, in primary care, many of the PAs have their own patient panel. They are the primary care provider. Of course, their supervising physician is there for support as are the rest of the team. It’s definitely a team approach in all of our departments. The providers support one another,” she said.
According to Backus, when recruiting PAs, the hospital is very specific with regards to the expectations and responsibilities associated with all open positions.
“That adds to our retention which minimizes our recruitment needs,” she noted.
When recruiting—whether it is for PAs, doctors, or nurse practitioners—Backus must find candidates who are interested in practicing in a small community. It is something that she admits can be challenging.
“When someone is not familiar with the region, they don’t necessarily realize what a gem we have. When they see that we are in northern New York, they may feel that we don’t have the amenities that they would be used to. It’s not until we can really talk to them about the community and the resources and the amenities that we have that they recognize that we have a wonderful community with great schools, kind people, lots of activities, and no traffic,” she said.
“I do tell them that they have to be able to embrace the snow—they don’t have to like it, but they do have to embrace it. I’m very up front and honest about everything because we want people to come here and stay. That’s what’s best for our patients and our community and our hospital,” she added.
Although Glens Falls Hospital has been very successful at attracting qualified providers to the area, Backus said many of their practitioners are “home grown.”
“They are people who are from the area,” she said. “They go away to school and to train, and maybe they work elsewhere and then come back home. That’s always a wonderful thing.”