Inside the inaugural TIAA Institute Louise Whitfield Carnegie Award
Healthcare is serious business, Care delivery requires sure hands, clinical expertise, physical stamina and emotional intelligence. The people who show up every day to care for others have always faced demanding work, and recent pressures have added considerably to the weight healthcare workers bear.
One in four healthcare workers intend to leave their job with in two years, with more than 90% citing burnout as their primary reason. The United States faces a projected shortfall of up to 300,000 doctors and nurses over the next decade, according to research compiled by the TIAA Institute.¹
Financial stress, emotional exhaustion, an expanding aging society and a growing disconnect between the demands placed on healthcare workers and the support they receive are converging into an existential challenge for the industry.
Yet forward-thinking health systems are finding new ways to support the people behind the care. The TIAA Institute, which has produced landmark research on retirement readiness and financial literacy for over two decades, has studied this challenge closely. And Stephanie Conners, president and CEO of Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System, has been actively addressing it on the ground in West Central Florida.
When financial stress follows you home
The TIAA Institute’s research mission centers on helping people and institutions make better decisions for financial well-being and retirement security. Increasingly, that aim has led the Institute into healthcare.
“Health and wealth are not two separate conversations, “said Surya Kolluri, head of the TIAA Institute. “Indeed, we think of them as two sides of the same coin. We simply cannot have meaningful conversations about financial security and well-being without also taking health into account. And on the other hand, we cannot talk about health with out acknowledging economic forces that shape access, quality and the outcomes.”
Almost two in five healthcare workers say personal finances are their top worry outside of work,² according to TIAA Institute research. Growing evidence draws a strong connection between financial strain and mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and anger. Workers describe finishing grueling 12-hour shifts only to confront debt, uncertainty about retirement savings and a persistent inability to find work-life balance.
For healthcare employers already struggling with retention, addressing financial stress may be one of the most practical levers available to keep employees from leaving. TIAA Institute research found that among healthcare workers who received one-on-one financial advice, over 75% felt confident in their ability to retire.³
These findings underscore a fundamental insight: the well-being of the people who lead and staff the healthcare system is inseparable from the well-being of the patients and communities they serve. Addressing workforce resilience requires leaders that prioritize the financial security and career development of all staff.
Recognizing leadership that invests in people
This conviction is what drove the TIAA Institute to create the Louise Whitfield Carnegie Award, a new honor recognizing exceptional leadership in the healthcare C-suite. Named for the philanthropic leader who championed public health, human dignity and equity during some of the most challenging periods in American history, the award evaluates leaders across five criteria: visionary leadership, measurable impact, workforce engagement, partnership and healthcare transformation.
A distinguished panel of independent judges with expertise spanning healthcare delivery, policy and leadership scored each finalist through anonymized evaluation and facilitated discussion to reach consensus.
The inaugural recipient is BayCare’s Stephanie Conners, whose record stood out across every criterion for the 2026 honor. The judges were particularly struck by her combination of measurable organizational impact, authentic commitment to work force engagement and a genuinely community-centered approach to care.
Building a health system from the bedside up
Ms. Conners began her career as a nurse and still maintains her clinical license. That foundation shapes her approach to leadership at BayCare, a nonprofit system that as of April 2026 has grown under her tenure to include 16 hospitals, $6.27 billion in operating revenue, and 34,000 team members.
“Our people are our greatest asset. They’re the heart of this organization,”Ms. Conners said.
BayCare is investing $2.8 billion in modern facilities and technology, including Tampa Bay’s first proton therapy center and a new children’s hospital backed by a historic $50 million donor gift. Ms. Conners is expanding graduate medical education from 145 residency positions to 650 by 2029, and an academic collaboration with Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine — ranked No.1 in Illinois for 14 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report — is expanding specialty care so patients across West Central Florida never need to leave home for nationally ranked treatments.
For the workforce, programs like Earn as You Learn offer paid training pathways into healthcare careers, while nurse-led Professional Practice Councils and the Voices of Extraordinary Care initiative empower caregivers to shape clinical practice directly. BayCare has implemented AI tools and virtual nursing programs to reduce administrative burden, giving clinicians more time with patients and less time on documentation. Ms. Conners also reinvested $100 million into the team through enhanced compensation and benefits, and reduced premium labor costs from $274 million to $84 million, saving $190 million for redirection into clinical care and the workforce.
When Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck the Tampa Bay area, Ms. Conners established a $10 million matching relief fund for BayCare team members facing hardship — reinforcing the organization’s commitment to its people in times of crisis, not just in future oriented strategic plans.
These efforts have earned BayCare national recognition.
“I never dreamed of being a CEO. I became a nurse and I thought I hit the pinnacle,”Ms. Conners said. “A title is temporary, but the impact you have on human life is forever.”
Ms. Conners’ vision for BayCare is anchored in the promise that no patient should have to leave West Central Florida for care. “We want to take care of patients from first breath to last breath,” she said. “Our organization has been very successful in advancing the environment so that [patients] can live, work and play where their home is, where their family is and where they want to be.”
The road ahead
Ms. Conners’ leadership illustrates a broader truth TIAA Institute’s research continues to affirm: when healthcare leaders invest in the whole person — financial well-being, career growth, purpose and resilience — they build stronger institutions and healthier communities.¹
“Going forward, you can expect the TIAA
Institute to continue deepening our research at the intersection of health and wealth with a particular focus on the forces shaping the healthcare workforce, such as financial security, burnout, talent retention and the evolving employee value proposition that healthcare organizations need to get right if we continue to want to attract and keep the best people,”Mr. Kollurisaid.²
The healthcare leaders who will define the next era of the industry won’t simply manage complexity. They will invest in people — recognizing, as both the research and the example of BayCare make clear, that the health of a community begins with the well-being of those who serve it.³
¹ Toward an Employee Value Proposition in the Healthcare Sector, TIAA Institute, 2024.
² The Mental Health of Healthcare Workers,” Mental Health America, 2022
³ Retirement Readiness in the Healthcare Sector, TIAA Institute, 2024
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