This year’s annual workforce report from the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) found that one in 10 positions at hospitals are vacant — a total of nearly 10,000 vacancies statewide, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. The report uses state and federal data, combined with information from hospitals across the state, to outline industry challenges.
Hospitals are still facing the high rates of employee turnover that began in “the Great Resignation” of 2021–22; however, those rates have stabilized rather than continued to increase.The retirement of baby boomer generation employees also represents a significant industry challenge — with the state’s aging population, hospitals are not growing fast enough to keep up with increasing care demands.
Outpatient visits in Wisconsin did not increase from the previous year for the first time in over 10 years. Inpatient days continued to rise, however, reaching levels 6% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The length of patient hospital stays has also increased as the availability of nursing home beds has dropped.
Furthermore, the report notes shortages in primary care, with 63% of clinics and health systems struggling to meet demand for care and patient wait times to see their primary care provider rising by 25%.
The worst vacancy rates at hospitals are in frontline technical positions including licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants, and respiratory therapists.
On the positive side is the growing migration of doctors into the state — helped by state investments in creating more training opportunities for new physicians — and progress in the registered nurse workforce, in which the median age is decreasing.
The WHA report calls for a reduction in regulatory and administrative burdens, as well as support for the use of technology like telehealth and robotics in hospitals to increase efficiency.
