Background & objective:
The importance of the geriatric health workforce is pivotal in relation to the aging populations, their constantly expanding needs, and the increasing frailty. Specifically, people over 65 years old are accountable for 18.9% of the romanian population, which is close to the eu level of 20.6%. Additionally, the romanian healthcare system encounters challenges regarding the healthcare workforce, such as human resources migration, the lack of a comprehensive health workforce policy, and assuring adequate numbers and distribution. This paper aims to assess the trends in the geriatric workforce between 2016-2022 in romania, with a particular focus on the differences between regions.

Methods:
The study has a quantitative, longitudinal design implying secondary data analysis conducted on doctors specialized in geriatrics. We used the annual report on the activity of healthcare facilities and the national statistical yearbook issued by the national institute of statistics for 2016-2022 population-related data.

Results:
At the national level, the number of geriatricians increased by approximately 43%, from 210 in 2016 to 300 in 2022. The results indicate an aging workforce, as the highest share was represented by doctors aged 53, respectively 54 years old. In terms of distribution, the south region holds the highest number of geriatricians, with a 44,8% difference from 2016 (n=125) to 2022 (n=181). alternatively, the west region had the lowest numbers, with a 16,67% increase (n=6 geriatricians in 2016 compared to n=7 geriatricians in 2022). In this region, the ratio of inhabitants aged over 65 years old reported to geriatricians has decreased from 52,98 in 2016 to 51,14 in 2022.

Conclusions:
The romanian healthcare system has tremendous differences concerning geriatricians’ distribution between counties. Despite the slight increase over the years, the number of geriatricians reported to the aging population should represent an interest for the policymakers.