AFTER A HALF CENTURY of leading the world in medical innovation and care, the U.S. healthcare system is headed for the emergency room: Physicians are retiring faster than new recruits are being trained and nurses have fled in droves, victims of unpredictable hours, mandatory overtime and rising job frustrations. Rural areas are losing clinics, and medical services are distributed unevenly elsewhere; even the family-friendly Wasatch Front has a shortage of gynecologists. Dramatic, year-to-year increases in malpractice insurance are crippling physicians, who pass the costs back to their patients. And the hip replacements, bone marrow transplants and bypass surgeries haven't come without a cost-through-the-roof bills that insurers and patients say are prohibitive.

But that's not the worst of it, say four Utah State graduates who - at the top of their game in the healthcare profession - are poised to help provide solutions. "The aging baby boomer population will be as catastrophic for the healthcare system as it will be for Social Security," says Hoyt Skabelund '94 '96, chief administrator of Socorro Hospital in New Mexico. "The majority of the population will be retired and dealing with end-of-life issues, and fewer people working will tax our ability to finance that care."

The aging population will not only require more care, but have less ability to pay for it, says Ron Labrum '83, executive vice president for Cardinal Health. Indeed, the median household income for people 65 and older is just over $26,000. The annual healthcare cost: $11,000. The equation becomes even more strained when one looks ahead: By 2030 married couples over 65 will spend 35 percent of their income on health care. "The government is trying to regulate soaring costs amidst growing demand from patients who want the best, but who can't or don't necessarily want to pay for it." more