Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems is switching one of its recruitment focuses to international nursing in a bid to further reduce reliance on contract labor.
Speaking on the system's webcast to discuss first-quarter results, CHS President and CFO Kevin Hammons said such a move would help with the situation because there is a "longer lag time to embed" such international staff.
CHS salaries and benefits in the first quarter totaled $1.37 billion compared with $1.33 billion in the same period in 2022. The 2023 figure represented 43.9 percent of net operating revenues compared with 42.6 percent in the same period last year.
Contract labor in the first quarter of 2022 totaled $190 million, CEO Tim Hingtgen said on the call.
The U.S. State Department said April 24 no more green card applications would be considered this year because of a widespread backlog.
Approximately 22,000 nurses work across the 79-hospital system. Mr. Hingtgen finished the call by asking for everyone to celebrate the work CHS nurses do as well as remember all nursing staff during the upcoming National Nurses Week May 6-12.