Becker’s asked C-suite executives from hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers and universities across the U.S. to share how their organizations are managing today’s workforce pressures while preparing for what’s ahead.
The 83 executives featured in this article are all speaking at the Becker’s Healthcare 16th Annual Meeting, from April 13 – 16, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
To learn more about this event, click here.
If you would like to join as a speaker or a reviewer, contact Mariah Muhammad at mmuhammad@beckershealthcare.com or agendateam@beckershealthcare.com.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities or vendor access-only badges, contact Jessica Cole at jcole@beckershealthcare.com.
As part of an ongoing series, Becker’s is talking to healthcare leaders who will speak at our conference. The following are answers from our speakers at the event.
Question: How are you balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term workforce transformation?
Pete November. President and CEO of Ochsner Health (New Orleans, La): We are addressing short-term workforce pressures by focusing on immediate retention and recruitment strategies, such as financial well-being and career development programs. We are also investing in long-term workforce transformation through initiatives like the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, designed to train future physicians and address our region’s growing talent shortages, as well as partnerships with academic institutions to strengthen our talent pathways and build a steady stream of skilled professionals in nursing and allied health. By championing technology, such as AI-powered tools to reduce administrative burdens, we are also creating a sustainable environment that supports both current team members and future talent. These innovations not only address burnout today but also lay the groundwork to create more ease of use and access for our patients. At Ochsner, our shared purpose and our culture of belonging and excellence define who we are – ensuring team members feel empowered, valued and connected to our mission. This holistic approach ensures we meet today’s challenges while building a future-ready workforce for tomorrow.
Ramin Davidoff, MD. Co-CEO of The Permanente Federation (Oakland, Calif.); Executive Medical Director and Board Chair of Southern California Permanente Medical Group; Board Chair and CEO of The Southeast Permanente Medical Group; Board Chair and CEO of Hawaii Permanente Medical Group: Short-term, we’re leveraging technologies like ambient AI to capture clinician notes that reduce the clinical documentation burden on physicians, allowing physicians to focus more on patient care. We’re also using AI to draft responses to patient emails and manage in-box messages. And we’re taking a team-based approach to build a strong practice support infrastructure that allows all staff to work at the top of their licenses to make the work more sustainable and enjoyable for everyone in the short and long-term. We also promote a culture where every team member can lead from where they are, because the best ideas often come from front-line staff. Long-term, we are fully committed to our integrated, value-based care model, which prioritizes preventive, high-quality, coordinated care and positive health outcomes over the quantity of services provided in a fee-for-service organization. Recognizing projected physician and healthcare worker shortages while the number of older patients with more complex, chronic conditions is increasing, we support a ‘digital-first’ approach that aligns with future healthcare demands, while ensuring our organization’s structure allows for rapid adaptation to changing demands.
Jeffrey A. Flaks. President and CEO of Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare: Creating tomorrow’s workforce begins today — and it requires a full suite of solutions. At Hartford HealthCare, we have created a strategic workforce function that identifies critical workforce gaps projected over coming years. We partner with an array of academic institutions (including high schools) to create career pathway programs and pipelines for most-needed roles. At the same time, we focus on colleague well-being and development by providing opportunities for leadership training and advancement, supporting career development, and ongoing systemwide talent review and succession planning. Our sustained and substantial investments in development and retention have helped earn our system the ranking of ‘Connecticut’s Top Employer for Career Growth’ by Careerminds. We realize today’s colleagues are tomorrow’s leaders, and today’s students are tomorrow’s healthcare workers.
Dan Kueter. CEO of UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual (Minnetonka, Minn.): Integrating the needs of employees with the organization’s larger business goals is integral to long term success and a sustainable workforce. Talent development and training strategies should build on strong, consistent internal communications to help reinforce alignment between the business and the workforce. That starts with a strategic approach that leans into the values and culture of the company.
This applies to businesses of all sizes, but it is especially important for large organizations with diverse, multigenerational workforces. UnitedHealthcare, for instance, is a mission-focused organization, and our values of integrity, compassion, inclusion, relationships, innovation and performance guide everything we do. In both the short- and long-term, we are dedicated to making our organization a place where people feel welcomed, valued, heard and respected.
Shayna Long, MSN, RN. Director of Clinical Informatics at UC Irvine Health (Orange, Calif.): I manage short-term workforce pressures by immediately responding and changing course based on how it impacts patient care. All while investing in long-term transformation through automation, analytics, and skill development aligned with our digital health strategy. This approach resolves today while building tomorrow.
Joy Oh. Chief Information and Digital Transformation Officer of Christ Hospital Health Network (Cincinnati): I personally don’t believe that balancing short-term workforce pressures is sustainable or conducive to workforce transformation. Say you had a patient who was on a weight-loss transformation journey, and one night they came into the ER having been in a car accident and was bleeding heavily. Would we sit them down with a nutritionist to see how they were doing with their diet and exercise plan? Of course not. We would treat the injury to provide relief to the patient and also to prevent their condition from getting worse.
In the same way, if my team is currently under pressure, it is my responsibility as a leader to understand that and try to release that pressure first. For example, one of the common pressures teams face is too much work and too few resources. To address this, we did two things. First, we revamped our IT governance model to ensure that we were working on the highest priority projects that aligned with our overarching goals. In doing this, we reduced a lot of the re-prioritization and shuffling of projects, as well as resource waste, that can often occur when individual projects take precedence over organizational strategy. Second, we doubled down on capacity and demand planning, ensuring everyone was consistently entering both their resource availability and actual time spent on activities. This not only allowed us to best plan our resources and prevent over allocation, but also gave us the data we need to demonstrate the need to bring on additional new staff.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, in today’s hybrid / remote environment, as leaders we need to continue to emphasize and provide avenues for healthy work-life balance and personal connection. Things as simple as scheduling meetings for 50 minutes instead of an hour, or encouraging ‘no-meeting’ Friday afternoons, or not sending emails outside working hours unless absolutely necessary can go a long way in reducing the pressure of always being online and ‘on.’ Periodic in-person collaboration and team-building activities are also critical in building a healthy team.
Mila Sprouse, EdD, MSN, RN. Chief Nursing Officer of North Puget Sound Region at Providence (Renton, Wash.): As the chief nursing officer overseeing thousands of caregivers across Providence Swedish North Puget Sound, balancing short-term pressures with long-term transformation is about staying grounded in our mission. At PRMCE, we’ve ramped up practice governance and strengthened shared decision-making through our practice council, with participation increasing by 40% and unit-based council activity up 68% in just six months. We are launching a formalized Healthy Work Environment initiative to further empower caregivers to co-create solutions and shape a workplace that supports them today and prepares them for tomorrow.
James Fenush, MS, RN. Vice President of Nursing Emergency Services and Clinical Support Services at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center: As the executive nurse leader for my division, I meet regularly with my frontline nurse leaders to address immediate operational challenges and eliminate barriers to ensure the delivery of excellent patient care every day. However, my role also demands me to guide our leadership team to look beyond these daily stresses and remain focused on Penn State Health: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s strategic priorities: innovation, faculty and staff experience, patient experience, and performance. Balancing short-term problem solving with long-term strategic advancement is crucial. If we fail to consistently drive progress in these priority areas, we risk losing sight of the workforce transformation necessary to sustain our mission and move our organization forward.
Sean O’Grady. President of Acute and Ambulatory Care at Endeavor Health (Evanston, Ill.): At Endeavor Health, our people are the most critical ingredient to deliver on our vision of safety, seamless and personal, every person, every time. We know that workforce shortages will be an industry reality for decades, creating daily pressures for those who deliver care. In the short-term, it’s our responsibility to minimize the pressures that prevent our people from doing their best work. In the longer term, we are investing in systems and work flow design that will allow us to remove tasks that get in the way of our people spending time on what matters most – connecting with patients and families and one another. Every step we take is about giving our people the time, space and support to deliver exceptional care.
Stephen Bardoczi. Vice President of Planning and Post Acute Care at Witham Health Services (Lebanon, Ind.): Witham Health Services has dug deep into recasting our mission vision and values led by our leader Kelly Braverman CEO of Witham. We have many new pillars created through our three year strategic planning process which is entering its third year next year. As one would assume staffing and employee engagement is paramount in the plan and the focused initiatives center around making it easier to work at Witham. This recasts how and who we hire and improves the process to not only reach out deeper into the market but also move faster at bringing new hires in quicker and embrace them sooner. We have also improved our support and facilitation of increased hybrid employment as appropriate which in a healthcare environment can be challenging however we have had successes at this to date.
These have been our key initiatives of many but to date we are gaining traction.
Athena Minor, DNP, MSN, RN. Chief Nursing and Clinical Officer of Ohio County Healthcare (Hartford, Ky.): Workforce shortages are not new to healthcare; however, this is probably the first time I have seen this issue affect nearly all disciplines across the board. From specialty care and family practice physicians to nursing and ancillary staff, there are critical shortages everywhere. Challenges that must be addressed through both long-term and short-term strategies are numerous. While patient care gaps are the largest concern, there are also challenges presented through wage battles and greater demands for work-life balance, not to mention issues with denials and reimbursement uncertainties. Put all of this together and it becomes clear that healthcare leaders must be holistic in strategic approaches. We are called upon to pay more and do more with less human resources while maintaining quality care with less reimbursement – oh yeah – and provide staff with a safe, just culture and offer a reasonable work-life balance to the staff we are able to recruit and retain. It is a big ask; however, we have found a measure of balance through unique staffing models, cross-training opportunities, and shared governance. Investing in our people has been our greatest strategy, one which we will carry into the future as we continue to explore pathways to sustainable workforce transformation.
Pooja Vyas, DO, MBA. System Vice President of Care Coordination Liaison, Physician and Provider Advisement at SSM Health (St. Louis): I’m constantly balancing immediate workforce pressures with the need for long-term transformation. In the short term, I focus on stabilizing operations by optimizing throughput, redeploying staff based on real-time data, and cross-training teams to increase flexibility. We’re also addressing clinical denials proactively by embedding documentation specialists and denial prevention strategies into daily workflows, which reduces rework and eases the burden on frontline teams. At the same time, I’m investing in long-term workforce development by creating career pathways aligned with evolving care models like value-based care and virtual health. This includes leadership training, upskilling in care coordination, and piloting hybrid roles that blend clinical expertise with digital engagement. Technology plays a key role in both short- and long-term strategies — we’re integrating AI and automation to support decision-making and reduce administrative load, not replace clinicians. Throughout this process, I prioritize physician and provider engagement, ensuring their voices are part of redesign efforts. Ultimately, workforce transformation is aligned with our broader goals around quality, equity, and financial stewardship, and I lead with a focus on purpose, partnership, and adaptability.
Quanna Batiste-Brown, DNP, RN, FAAN. Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Touro Infirmary, LCMC Health (New Orleans): Balancing immediate pressures while focusing on long-term workforce transformation is a continuous challenge in my role as CNO at Touro Infirmary. As I work on developing and strengthening our workforce pipelines, I am acutely aware of the evolving technological solutions, which are often hindered by cost and logistical challenges. My strategy involves addressing short-term needs with innovative solutions driven by clinical effectiveness, aiming for a sustainable and sensible long-term transformation. A current example in our organization is the integration of virtual nursing into clinical workflows.
Kurt Koczent, RN, FACHE. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at University of Rochester – Thompson Health (N.Y.): Here at UR Thompson Health, we are focused on three priorities for our workforce: professional development, wellness, and decompression from work. Healthcare, like no other industry, provides vertical growth for aspiring professionals. Our health system is focused on those who want to become more by investing in their education while keeping the income stable. This allows associates to focus on professional development without the worry of impacting their family’s standard of living. Concurrently, we are focused on wellness. We continue to invest in an active, holistic approach to our associate’s wellbeing. This not only includes wellness screenings, but yoga, Zen rooms, and mental health first aid. Finally, we are educating leaders on how to regain their time away from work. Post covid leadership must relearn professional boundaries that were eradicated to be successful during that challenging time. This is the slowest to return. Overall, these foci have allowed Thompson to hit record low vacancy rates, nearly eliminate travelers, eliminate any locum’s physician, and consistently be ranked as a top employer locally and nationally.
Matthew Ducsik, MPH. Vice President of Providence Clinical Institutes at Providence (Renton, Wash.): In the short-terms, we are focused on supporting our caregivers and staff in a very turbulent environment. It is no secret that the financial and operational headwinds that health systems are facing mean that we are all being asked to do more, with fewer resources. Providence has invested in AI tools around workplace efficiency, ambient listening, and inbox management to help ease the administrative burden for our clinical caregivers and administrative teams. In terms of long-term transformation, creative solutions will be needed to face critical shortages in the primary care, specialty care, and nursing workforce. We will continue to build forward-thinking strategies that extend specialty and sub-specialty expertise into our rural communities, optimize recruitment and retention, and better connect our clinicians with patients across our networks.
Donnie Rosario. System Vice President of Laboratory Services at CommonSpirit Health (Chicago): The workforce pressures we’re seeing today are really symptoms of deeper issues like underdeveloped pipelines, geographic gaps, wage compression, and heavy competition in key markets.
In the short term, we’ve continued to rethink how to optimize the skill mix, making sure every team member is working at the top of their license or capability. That means removing barriers, refining job descriptions, and opening doors for people who are qualified but might’ve been screened out by outdated requirements. It’s about making smart use of the people we have while keeping them growing and engaged.
Long term, this really comes down to culture and engagement. We know younger generations think differently; they’re less loyal to organizations and more driven by purpose. So if we want to retain top talent, we have to create a sense of ownership. When people feel heard and part of the solution, it builds pride, connection, and buy-in. That’s what drives loyalty, not policies or perks, but trust and purpose.
At the end of the day, it’s about being intentional, reducing barriers to entry, and building a culture that empowers people to grow, perform at their highest level, and see themselves as part of something bigger.
Deepti Pandita, MD. Vice President of Clinical Informatics and Chief Medical Information Officer at UCI Health (Orange, Calif.): Balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation requires a dual lens: stabilizing immediate operational realities while architecting an AI-enabled workforce for the future.
In the short term, we are addressing capacity and burnout by deploying pragmatic AI solutions that drive efficiency today — ambient documentation, clinical decision support, and predictive analytics that reduce cognitive load and optimize workflows. These interventions directly return time to clinicians and help teams operate at the top of their license.
Our long-term strategy, however, is intentionally transformative. We are embedding AI literacy and workflow redesign into workforce development — training our teams not just to use AI, but to partner with it. This means upskilling clinicians, nurses, and operational staff in data fluency, process redesign, and ethical AI use, while building new hybrid roles that blend informatics, analytics, and clinical expertise.
Lisa Fort, MD, MPH. Assistant Chief Medical Information Officer, System Medical Director of Quality and Safety, Emergency Medicine and System Medical Director, Virtual Care Center at Ochsner Health (New Orleans): When I think about roles of the future, it always leads to reflecting on today’s roles whether or not they are providing satisfaction and fulfillment to our workforce members. People who chose healthcare over other industries are highly mission-driven. I don’t think we do a very good job of connecting the day to day work to the impact on patient’s lives, especially for non-clinical team members. By eliminating repetitive, boring tasks we can connect people to their purpose because they will be providing deeply human insight and judgment to processes rather than functioning as the machinery that completes tasks. I believe if we start with the mission and motivation we will be able to map to the work that needs to be done to provide high quality, outcome-driven results for our patients.
Emily Moorhead. President of Macomb Market at Henry Ford Health (Detroit): Short-term labor challenges require healthcare organizations to rethink work design. This includes eliminating non–value-added steps in our processes, leveraging technology to streamline documentation, and ensuring every team member practices at the top of their expertise. Long-term strategies must focus on building the workforce of the future — through partnerships with high schools, community colleges, and universities to create training pipelines that attract and develop the talent most essential to patient care.
Amy E. Lee. President and Chief Operating Officer of Nantucket Cottage Hospital (Mass.): At Nantucket Cottage Hospital, we’re taking a dual-track approach by meeting today’s staffing challenges while building a sustainable, community-based workforce model for the future. In the short term, we continue to stabilize our seasonal and year-round workforce through targeted recruitment, competitive housing and compensation initiatives, and partnerships that expand access to travel and per diem clinicians when demand surges.
At the same time, we’re investing in long-term transformation. That includes expanding our programs to develop local talent pipelines, collaborating with regional schools and colleges to create training and education pathways, and using technology to extend care through telehealth and remote specialty support. Our goal is to grow a resilient, mission-driven workforce rooted in the island community, one that can adapt to both the unique seasonality of Nantucket and the evolving demands of modern healthcare.
Ultimately, balancing short-term pressures with long-term vision means addressing immediate gaps without losing sight of sustainability and ensuring that every decision we make strengthens our team, our culture, and our capacity to care for Nantucket year-round.
Adele R. Johnson-Kebe. Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Dayton Children’s and Ben Goodstein, MBA. Vice President and Chief Ambulatory Officer of Dayton Children’s Hospital and President of Dayton Children’s Specialty Physicians Inc. (Ohio): At Dayton Children’s, we’re balancing immediate workforce pressures with long-term transformation by intentionally aligning every short-term decision to our long-term vision of becoming a destination employer for pediatric healthcare talent.
In the short term, we’re addressing acute staffing challenges through a combination of flexibility, retention, and internal development:
- Flexible Scheduling Models: Offering adaptable shifts and cross-coverage options to reduce burnout and maintain continuity of care. Self-scheduling and remote work opportunities are integrated into our system.
- Retention Incentives: Implementing targeted programs to keep high-performing clinicians and support staff engaged during high-demand periods. From tuition reimbursement to shift differentials, our targeted retention incentives include market-based pay adjustments, recognition programs, and more.
- Pipeline Development: Building structured advancement programs for therapists and nurses, embedding clinical apprenticeships, and launching leadership pathways such as Manager Flight School and Service Line Academy. These initiatives have reduced turnover by more than 40% in key roles and improved engagement and leader index scores across the organization. Additionally, our Rise Academy provides support for employees pursuing a critical role and Career Connections offers collaboration with a Dayton Children’s career coach. These services are vital to the success of hard-to-fill technician roles in imaging, respiratory, and neurology areas.
At the same time, we’re reimagining the workforce of the future. This means:
- Redefining Roles: Designing care teams that maximize scope of practice and integrate advanced practice providers. Using a position control committee allows us to examine every role before simply replacing it in its current state.
- Digital Enablement: Expanding telehealth, automating administrative workflows, and leveraging predictive analytics to align staffing models with patient demand. Offering LinkedIn Learning to all employees, thus allowing independent learning and individualized career path guidance provides support that the workforce of the future desires.
- Culture as a Strategic Advantage: We’ve refreshed and renewed our organizational values to speak to a more diverse workforce because we believe culture is our number one differentiator from other pediatric hospitals. By prioritizing psychological safety, inclusion, and purpose, we ensure every team member feels connected to the “why” behind our mission and the behaviors that support our vision. Through proactive listening, inclusive policies, and people-first leadership coaching, we are creating a culture where people feel valued, heard, and inspired to do their best work.
Workforce transformation for us isn’t just about filling positions — it’s about creating a sustainable ecosystem where people, processes, and technology work together to deliver exceptional pediatric care. The current pressures are real, but they’ve accelerated innovation and reinforced our belief that culture and adaptability are our strongest long-term retention strategies.
Paula Ferrada, MD. Chair Department of Surgery Inova Fairfax Medical Campus; Division and System Chief of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at Inova Healthcare System (Fairfax, Va.): When it comes to the workforce, I don’t believe short-term pressures and long-term transformation are opposites. At Inova, we’re learning that you can stabilize the present while building the future — if you lead with clarity, transparency, and genuine care for the people doing the work. In the day-to-day, that looks like reducing friction for our teams: removing unnecessary steps, simplifying processes, and making sure no nurse, APP, surgeon or any healthcare professional has to fight the system to take care of a patient.
But the deeper work is redesigning the environment they will practice in five and ten years from now. We are investing in leadership development at every level, building internal pipelines for advancement, and creating cultures of psychological safety where people feel they can speak up, innovate, and stay. Retention becomes a natural outcome when people feel seen, valued, and part of a mission larger than themselves.
Workforce transformation is not a staffing strategy. It’s a human strategy — and when we get that right, everything else follows.
Darrell Bodnar. Chief Information Officer of North Country Healthcare (Flagstaff, Ariz.): In IT, I see workforce planning as a continuous process. We’re always evaluating our team structure and skill sets to stay aligned with our business strategy and the changing market. Right now, that means building stronger capabilities in AI, data analytics, and cybersecurity, while also planning for succession within an aging workforce. The key is balancing today’s operational demands with tomorrow’s transformation, making sure we stay agile, resilient, and ready for what’s next.
Becky Stoll. Senior Vice President of Crisis Services at Centerstone (Nashville, Tenn.): At Centerstone, we understand when it comes to recruiting, hiring and retaining a skilled and satisfied workforce, it takes purposeful planning for the short and long term. In the short-term, we must focus on operating services that are well run so that we are not asking staff to be physically and mentally well in spite of the work environment. We also have to provide staff with the training, tools supervision and support they need to achieve positive patient outcomes. Successfully achieving both of these factors create a place where people want to work and individuals want to receive care.
When looking at longer term strategies around the workforce, it is imperative that we do a much better job of creating career paths for individuals. Those who decide to be a part of healthcare organizations should know what choices and opportunities the company has to offer. For some, this is providing frontline work. These staff must be given the best evidence-based training, comprehensive supervision and mentoring opportunities. For those who aspire to be in leadership roles, programs should be in place to provide them with the skills they need to move up in the organization. Centerstone strives to ‘Be the Home’ for those who desire a career in behavioral health and we hope following these short and long term strategies helps us achieve this goal.
Molly Biwer. Chief Marketing Officer of Emory Healthcare (Atlanta): At Emory Healthcare, we’re taking a short- and long-view dual approach balancing the realities of today’s workforce while building the foundation for the workforce of the future.
In the near term, we’ve invested heavily in stabilizing our teams through competitive compensation, flexible scheduling, and a renewed focus on belonging and well-being. We’re also redesigning staffing models to reduce friction for our front-line caregivers and leveraging technology to automate administrative work — freeing our people to do what only they can do: deliver exceptional, compassionate care.
At the same time, we’re driving a long-term transformation. That includes new career pathways across clinical and digital disciplines, partnerships with academic institutions to grow the next generation of talent, and leadership development programs rooted in our cultural beliefs — One Emory, Lead Change, Own It, and People-Centered.
We are working hard to create a future-ready workforce that reflects our values, embraces innovation, and ensures Emory Healthcare remains a destination for purpose-driven professionals.
JohnRich R. Levine, DNP, DPA, MSN. Chief Nursing Officer of Reeves Regional Health (Pecos, Texas): At Reeves Regional Health, we focus on aligning immediate workforce stability transformation that we thought endures. We have strengthened internal pipelines by investing in education, mentorship, and leadership development across every level of nursing. Our short-term approach centers on creating consistency in staffing and safety, while our long-term vision is to build a workforce that is self-sustaining, inspired, and prepared for future demands. We call it ‘growing from within,’ a model that keeps patient care steady today and cultivates leaders who will define the next decade of rural healthcare excellence.
Joanne M. McCool. Vice President of Human Resources at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation requires intentional planning to prevent urgent needs from overshadowing strategic priorities. During the pandemic and Great Resignation, we learned that addressing immediate staffing gaps is critical and that we also needed to be proactive and develop mid-range and long-term staffing strategies. We streamlined our workforce development programs to focus on higher-impact initiatives and connected hiring managers, HR and other stakeholders to align efforts. Our HR Technology team also developed a long-term capacity model—the first in our history—that provides important insights about what our staffing needs will be over the next 10 years, and encourages discussion about how we can best meet them.
Jeremy Stephens. Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President of Tidelands Health (Georgetown, S.C.): Attracting and retaining skilled team members is a top priority. At Tidelands Health, we employ a variety of innovative strategies and pipelines to recruit team members, including unique student development initiatives and a focus on national and international efforts. Our recruitment and retention strategy is continuously evolving with shifts in the workforce. It’s crucial to embrace new initiatives to meet changing needs, create a supportive workplace culture and offer engaging programs for team members.
Muhammad Owais Khan, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Three Crosses Regional Hospital (Las Cruces, N.M.): Chief Medical Officers play an important role in balancing short-term staffing needs with long-term workforce plans. In the short term, CMOs need to warrant satisfactory clinical coverage, adjust scheduling, and implement contingency staffing solutions to maintain safe and effective patient care. They should be the advocate of their entire medical staff. At the same time, they should invest in long-term programs such as physician leadership development, retention programs, and workforce pipeline partnerships with medical schools and residency programs like I have done at Three Crosses Regional Hospital. CMOs also leverage data to predict future care needs, supporting planned recruitment and upskilling efforts in alignment with organizational goals. This dual approach ensures strength today while building a sustainable, highly skilled and solid physician workforce for the future.
Mayil Dharmarajan. Vice President of Data and Analytics at UC Irvine Health (Orange, Calif.): UCI Health grew from a single hospital last year to a 7-hospital system now more than tripling its bed counts etc., and the need for data and analytics always seems to outpace what our current team can deliver. We’re focused on getting people up to speed with data literacy and our analytics platforms. The goal is to handle routine reporting in-house, while our advanced analytics group tackles the tougher tasks that require deeper expertise. We’re actively trying new approaches to keep up. With the senior leadership team, we’ve doubled down on self-service analytics—giving UCI co-workers the tools and training they need to answer their common data questions. This move is driving us toward a more data-driven way of making decisions, and it’s scalable, which helps with the constant demand.
Getting this right has meant updates to our tech and tightening up our governance protocols to make sure everything runs smoothly. AI and new tech have changed the landscape this year, and that’s pushed us to rethink how our own team works for the future. We’re cross-training our analysts and building specialized groups that work directly with business units, acting almost like internal business analytics consultants to tackle operations and strategy using data. Our advanced analytics team—data scientists and other experts will now laser-focused on accelerating big projects and supporting the more complex analytics needs across UCI Health.
We’re not quite where we want to be yet, but these shifts are helping us cover more ground and keep pace with what the organization is transforming into.
Jacqueline Newton, RN, MSN. Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital (Baltimore): Balancing the pressure of short-term workforce management along with planning for long-term workforce transformation is a concurrent priority for any healthcare leader and system. While an immediate and short-term staffing shortage might absorb and impact daily operations and require a more facile and nimble response in real time, the trajectory of long-term planning equally necessitates forecasting and anticipatory patterns in census, patient population and emerging healthcare trends. At Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, we are addressing both the short- and long-term workforce strategies with creativity and innovation as well as thoughtfully analyzing our healthcare analytics. For example, we have recently expanded our scope of service to include diaphragmatic pacing in response to our emerging post-acute trauma patient population in our community. With this scope expansion, additional training and education was necessary to prepare our teams for success. By staying abreast of patient care needs uniquely required from our partner hospitals, we remain readily available to receive and care for patients, support families and keep our workforce agile, well-informed and knowledgeable in the post acute setting.
Desi McCue, DNP, RN. Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center (Tualatin, Ore.): We view short-term workforce pressures and long-term transformation as interconnected issues. Our goal is to cultivate a flexible and healthy workforce culture that addresses both current and future needs. Some of the key strategies we are implementing include offering flexible work options for leaders, providing training to build future skills, and maintaining a competitive retention strategy to reduce turnover.
Matthew Ruble, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Discovery Behavioral Health (Irvine, Calif.): The exponential shifts seen in behavioral healthcare from facility-based services to TELE/virtual/digital, require continuous mutation, adept pivots and plans A, B, C, D…
Discovery Behavioral Health has short, middle, and long-term strategic workforce planning, that is guided and augmented by implementing several AI/technology tools to do the following:
- Administer regular workforce assessments (Time studies and productivity reviews)
- Identify skill gaps (conduct skills assessment, self-assessment, and strategic assessments) and then recruit or train for potential talent needs.
- Track objective performance trends
- Investing in continuous training, orientation, development and needs assessment programs to avoid burnout.
Eric Crockett. Vice President of BioPharma Diagnostics at Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Rochester, Minn.): With all of the constant change that we experience in healthcare, one thing that hasn’t changed is the downward pressure on expenses, particularly FTE expenses. So, in the short-term, any efforts to gain efficiency will only help! This can include automation or any creative ways to ease the burden of work processes. These efforts will help to curb burnout in the short-term and also allow for more conservative expansion efforts when additional resources are justified through growth. Managers that are thinking this way are solidifying their value to the organization as performing more with less tends to be both the biggest controversy, but also the biggest opportunity as all of our organizations manage revenue goals and expense targets.
Faimy Vanleeuwen, RN, BSN. Regional Director of Quality at Baptist Health South Florida, North Region (Coral Gables, Fla.): As a regional quality director, I view collaboration as the cornerstone for balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation. As we navigate certain challenges, we’ve strengthened cross-hospital partnerships by leveraging flexible staffing models and cross-training so teams can support one another during workforce fluctuations without compromising patient safety or quality outcomes. Beyond addressing urgent needs, we’re investing in shared learning opportunities, certification pathways, and Lean Six Sigma projects that unite staff across our region to solve problems collectively. By fostering a culture of amazing engagement, recognition, and shared accountability, we’re not only building resilience for today but creating a collaborative workforce prepared to lead the future of care delivery.
Christopher Burks, MS, MBA. Vice President of Laboratory and Support Services at Brown University Health (Providence, R.I.): Health systems fight similar challenges between short-term pressures with long-term transformation. Particularly for laboratories, Brown University Health has a world-renowned faculty, research core, fellowship and residency program; however, lab operations find itself continually involved in addressing short-term staffing challenges – which was partly solved with core lab automation and cross-training while investing in our school of medical laboratory science. With strong competition from surrounding academic medical centers in Massachusetts and Connecticut, BUH is pivoting to long-term transformation with precise focus on professional development, competitive compensation ladders, and leadership support to build a sustainable future workforce. This dual approach uses technology and staff flexibility to manage current demand, while also creating a more resilient and skilled team through long-term strategies like career ladders, professional and educational support.
Stephanie Everett. Administrator of Mountrail Bethel Home; CEO of Mountrail County Medical Center (Stanley, N.D.): We are tackling short-term pressures by staying flexible and accommodating our tenured staff to reduce burnout and offer a better home/work life balance. We work to have the best technology available to not only ease the burden on our staff, but deliver the highest level of patient care possible. We are filling immediate needs with minimal travel staff. This is reviewed every few weeks, as we look forward to what we have coming in for a long-term solution. We are working on different strategies for recruiting new graduates by building relationships with area schools and training programs, as well as working on internal programs to encourage current staff to expand their careers. Although we prioritize hiring locally and developing our community workforce, we’ve been fortunate to supplement our team through the H-1B Visa program.
Holly Lee. Vice President and Chief Audit Executive of Parkview Health (Fort Wayne, Ind.): Internal audit is called to deliver timely assurance today while helping to shape a future defined by AI, automation, advanced analytics, and evolving regulatory expectations. Success will come from embracing a dual-track approach: meeting immediate resource demands with agility while investing in the workforce transformation. In the short term, flexibility is key. Temporary staff and prioritization of high-risk or regulatory audits can help maintain compliance and meet deadlines. Rapid upskilling through micro-learning on emerging risks and data tools ensures auditors remain effective. Technology can also play a role by deploying audit management software and analytic automations to reduce manual testing and optimize workload allocation. Long-term success requires strategic workforce planning. Building a skills inventory and succession plan for critical roles, coupled with forecasting resource needs using a risk trend approach, will position internal audit for future demands. Developing structured learning paths for future-oriented certifications, along with proficiency in data analytics, will create a future-ready team. Role segmentation is essential, as it enables auditors to transition from routine assurance to advisory roles, allowing automation to handle repetitive tasks. Finally, fostering a culture of adaptability and accountability, while positioning internal audit as a strategic risk advisor, will ensure the function remains relevant and delivers value-added, quality services.
Wayne Gillis. President and CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (Gallup, N.M.): In a hospital setting, balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term workforce transformation involves targeted strategies that ensure patient care remains effective while building a sustainable future workforce. Here are some tailored approaches:
- Prioritize Critical Roles and Skills: Focus immediate staffing efforts on essential roles such as nurses, emergency staff, and specialists, ensuring quality patient care while planning for future needs.
- Implement Cross-Training: Train existing staff across multiple competencies (e.g., nurses learning basic administrative tasks or other clinical skills) to increase flexibility and cover short-term gaps without delaying long-term workforce development.
- Leverage Temporary and Locum Staff: Use temporary healthcare professionals to address short-term shortages, which provides flexibility while ongoing training programs develop internal talent for the future.
- Invest in Staff Development: Offer targeted upskilling, such as digital health, patient safety, and new treatment protocols, to keep the workforce current and prepare them for emerging healthcare trends.
- Adopt Technology and Automation: Integrate electronic health records, telemedicine, and automation tools to reduce administrative burdens, freeing staff to focus on patient care and enabling future technological transformation.
- Enhance Workforce Planning: Use data analytics to forecast patient volume trends and adjust staffing models proactively, aligning current capacity with future population needs.
- Foster a Culture of Adaptability: Encourage ongoing staff engagement, transparent communication, and participation in transformation projects, so staff are motivated and receptive to change.
- Support Well-being and Resilience: Prioritize staff mental health and work-life balance to reduce burnout, which is critical both for immediate needs and long-term workforce sustainability.
Mark Whalen. Executive Vice President and Enterprise Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of Jefferson Health (Philadelphia): Health systems face significant workforce challenges with both short- and long-term implications, including staffing shortages, inflationary pressures, burnout, and shifts toward ambulatory care. In the near term, we’re leveraging AI to give time back to staff, advancing recruitment and retention strategies with a strong focus on clinician well-being, and implementing flexible staffing and care models to maintain stability. As an academic health system, we benefit from Thomas Jefferson University’s nationally ranked programs, which provide a robust talent pipeline. Long term, these changes require engaging the workforce in shaping how care evolves, ensuring models preserve time for meaningful human connections where compassionate care remains central.
Michael Wiggins. Assistant Professor of Healthcare Management and Leadership at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (Lubbock): While technological advancements and increasing efficiency may transform the work done by healthcare professionals, it is likely that a workforce shortage will persist into the foreseeable future. In the near term, successful organizations are improving their ability to deliver high-quality care through extensive part-time employee networks, embracing flexible, gig-economy-like scheduling options, and supporting employees as they explore new care environments. Future-focused organizations are also taking steps to increase the workforce pipeline. The most innovative are viewing themselves not only as employers, but also as economic development engines in their communities. They recognize that making educational investments, especially in economically disadvantaged communities, will not only expand the future healthcare workforce but also provide opportunities for individual economic advancement.
Sriram Vissa, MD. Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at SSM Health DePaul Hospital (St. Louis): Healthcare teams everywhere are feeling the squeeze — staffing shortages, rising demand, and burnout are real. At our hospital SSM Health DePaul Hospital, we’re tackling the immediate needs with flexible scheduling, cross-training, and creative staffing solutions. But we’re not stopping there. We’re building for the future by investing in leadership development, strengthening talent pipelines, and embracing technology to make care delivery smarter and more sustainable. It’s about meeting patient needs today while creating a workforce that’s ready for what’s next.
William A. Wertheim, MD. Executive Vice President of Stony Brook Medicine (N.Y.): With workforce challenges among the most pressing issues in healthcare today, balancing immediate staffing needs with a long-term vision requires both agility and intentional investment. Long-term, we are positioning ourselves to empower our staff to work to the full capacity of their licenses and training, while also leveraging technology to improve workflows and enhance the work environment (ambient listening for note-writing is a good example of this). The key to this is appropriate training, supervision, and careful vetting of technology to ensure it performs as envisioned. In the short term, we’re focused on listening to employee feedback, responding to concerns about care delivery points, and understanding where we should focus our energies to assist them. Above all, everything we do is geared towards ensuring that the quality of the care we deliver remains exceptional.
Damon Blankenbaker. Workplace Violence and Public Safety Manager of Integris Health (Oklahoma City): At Integris, we have a multidisciplinary team constantly looking for ways to balance short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation by building a workplace violence prevention structure and culture of safety that supports caregivers while strengthening our public safety workforce for the future.
We’ve implemented rapid, high-impact training that fits the realities of staffing shortages. This includes 45-minute scenario-based de-escalation boosters scheduled before and after shift change, warm-handoff training between nursing and public safety to reduce friction, and we are rolling out post-incident debriefs with the goal of getting to our caregivers within 24 hours.
These debriefs help caregivers process the event, identify contributing factors, and provide feedback directly into our WPV program. Public safety also meets with assaulted caregivers to explain options, offer support, and provide a background statement for law enforcement when appropriate.
At the same time, we’re advancing long-term workforce transformation. Integris is strengthening Public safety through standardized training pathways, scenario-based drills across all campuses, and expanding our technology by adding body worn cameras.
We are working to stabilize our workforce and build a better WPV prevention framework that will last into the future.
Ketrese White, DNP, RN. President of Texas Children’s Hospital, West Campus and Texas Children’s Hospital – The Woodlands, Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston): In the short term, we are focused on stabilizing our workforce through flexible staffing models, targeted recruitment, and fully leveraging the scope of both clinical and non-clinical roles, while prioritizing morale and well-being. At the same time, we are driving long-term transformation by investing in talent development, enhancing operational efficiency, and embedding leadership competencies that foster systemic change. This balanced approach ensures we meet immediate workforce needs while building resilience and positioning for sustainable growth and better patient outcomes.
Reyna Florentino-Gambrell. Senior Director of Clinical Risk Management and Patient Relations at Banner Health (Phoenix): I am a fond believer in culture and shaping it by way of process. When balancing short-term workforce pressures, I ask whether we are doing anything that is not critical to our core mission and/or the core aspects of our programs. After this is defined, then I seek to remove the noise so that we are able to reduce noise and, during a time of significant change, we anchor ourselves around our core function. Without this introspective assessment and then plan and execution, we cannot expect transformation to occur because transformation inherently leads to adaptation. By balancing short-term workforce pressures in this manner, we learn to adapt and pivot rather than remaining the same. When teams become comfortable in assessing, shrinking, adjusting and then expanding, we build resiliency in our teams, which is critical for long-term workforce transformation.
Molly Moran, DNP, RN. Associate Vice President of Ambulatory Nursing at Rush University Medical Center (Chicago): At Rush, particularly within ambulatory nursing, we are balancing immediate workforce pressures through flexible staffing models, cross-training, and a strong focus on clinician well-being with resilience and wellness resources. At the same time, we are exploring how technology can streamline clinic workflows while identifying tasks that require human expertise, and we are prioritizing targeted training and education to build strategic agility and prepare for the future of care delivery. These efforts have led to investments in long-term transformation, including strengthening academic partnerships, implementing an RN Fellowship Program for nurses new to ambulatory care or our organization, and reimagining how to leverage nurses of all experience levels: from new graduates to those nearing retirement. Together, this work ensures our workforce is supported today while positioned for success tomorrow.
Joel George, MSN, RN. Executive Director of Retail Services Strategy and Operations at AdventHealth Health Parks (Altamonte Springs, Fla.): At AdventHealth Central Florida Health Parks, we aim to balance today’s workforce pressures by improving processes and efficiencies within our ambulatory roles in order to reduce burnout. Some of the ways we do this include cross-training and streamlining workflows – for example, through our centralized check-in model which allows team members to deliver a hospitality-driven patient experience even in high-demand environments. We’re also investing in long-term talent pipelines, standardizing onboarding, and deploying technology that automates administrative tasks. We know that helping our team members feel whole is key to helping those we serve feel whole, and so this dual approach helps us stabilize the present while building a workforce equipped to serve consumers at the heart of outpatient care.
Funda Bachini, MD. Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Division Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Phoenix Children’s: At Phoenix Children’s, we use the sanctuary model to create a supportive work environment. We recognize that providing behavioral healthcare can be hard, but the right atmosphere helps staff look forward to coming in and that benefits patients, too. We have safety plans in place for stressful times, encourage open communication about feelings and goals and foster teamwork by breaking down silos between roles. Our shift to a 7-on, 7-off schedule for most of our inpatient psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurse practitioners has improved recruitment, retention and work-life balance. We invest in training and fellowships and align with local schools to cultivate the next generation of providers and participate as a team in events within our health system to build community. Ultimately, our focus is on relationship-building as much as quality and safety, knowing that while the work will always be challenging, a positive environment makes people want to stay.
David Marcozzi, MD. Chief Clinical Officer of University of Maryland Medical Center; Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs at University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore): The ability to deliver healthcare is inseparable from the people who provide it. As I’ve mentioned in similar contributions to Becker’s, healthcare must evolve more rapidly to meet acceptable standards for access and quality. At the same time, from a value construct, we must improve health beyond hospital walls — otherwise the supply-demand mismatch in care delivery will grow further and cost more.
Balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation involves addressing immediate operational needs while building a resilient future model. This requires shifting from traditional staffing models to those that focus on capabilities. A strategic goal should be to prioritize clinician force amplification — enhancing the impact and reach of physicians, nurses, and CRNAs. Four strategies that would prove valuable:
- Optimize Scope of Practice: Allow all clinicians to work at the top of their license by supporting the delegation of administrative tasks to ensure clinicians focus on judgment and actions, which improves efficiency and patient outcomes. Multipronged initiatives can accomplish this, including digital and technology enablement, development or adoption of extender roles, and task delegation.
- Population Health Integration: Enhance connections and understanding between hospitals, clinics, and public health to foster community health and decrease healthcare needs.
- Burnout Mitigation: Address the root causes of burnout directly, including scope creep, workplace violence, and work/life imbalance, to retain experienced staff who can mentor others and stabilize the workforce.
- Career Pathways: Create clear, achievable career advancement pathways that align with evolving care models and support development of potentially new technical training and professions.
Warren E. Moore. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Inspira Health (Mullica Hill, N.J.): Though there are several short-term external pressures that we can’t control, we remain focused on engaging and activating our current teams to lay the foundation for long-term workforce transformation. At Inspira, we lead every meeting and make every decision with our mission in mind, helping employees to feel deeply connected to the work they do which drives both employee engagement and a positive organizational culture. Additionally, we take a proactive approach to retention, including partnerships with local schools for professional development and career mobility, as well as operational changes to ease administrative burdens and address immediate staffing challenges. By maintaining this strong foundation that supports our employee teams, we can collectively navigate short-term challenges while upholding our continued commitment to our patients.
Simon Nazarian. Chief Digital and Technology Officer of City of Hope (Duarte, Calif.): The “secret sauce” of City of Hope is in our humanity and our collective pursuit of our mission. Our team of more than 13,000 of the nation’s top healthcare professionals and internationally recognized leaders put patients and our mission at the center of everything we do. By utilizing emerging technologies such as AI and automation, along with sourcing and shoring capabilities, we’re able to manage short-term workforce execution while focusing on cultivating long-term experts and leaders for strategic development and investment. This balanced approach allows us to maintain our patient-centric culture and mission, while building a resilient, future-ready workforce.
Theresa McDonnell, DNP, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive of Duke University Health System (Durham, N.C.): We’re addressing short-term workforce pressures by expanding virtual care, optimizing our skill mix, and eliminating non-value-added tasks that pull nurses and frontline leaders away from the work that matters most. We’ve also increased flexible scheduling options to support better work–life balance and stabilize our teams.
Looking long-term, we’re focused on building a sustainable, future-ready workforce. That includes strengthening our academic–practice partnerships to create reliable talent pipelines and, most importantly, redesigning care delivery itself. We’re moving toward team-based models that integrate robotics, automation, AI, and virtual care, creating a highly coordinated, technology-enabled care environment that supports our clinicians and enhances the experience for every patient.
Matt Chance. Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Scottish Rite for Children (Dallas): Because we serve such a unique community, the specialized expertise of our team makes a real difference in the lives of our patients so we’re always focused on maintaining a supportive, employee-friendly workplace where every person understands their impact on the patient and feels valued for the role they play. The result of this has been single digit turnover for all staff and even lower for nursing positions. Our biggest challenge will be recruiting new experts to keep up with the rapid population growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the growing demand for our services. Our hope is to continue empowering our staff while also keeping an eye out for innovative tools to help reduce administrative burdens and improve communication with families while helping our staff focus on patient care and experience.
Dona Landers. Director of Digital Marketing at The Christ Hospital Health Network (Cincinnati): We’re balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation by first addressing the root challenge: our team was stretched between daily execution and the need for deeper strategic focus. Like many marketing teams, we were being asked to use our resources more efficiently. When we experienced a shift in our leadership structure, we used the moment to have honest conversations about what the team truly needed — and to advocate for them in a way that didn’t add pressure to the organization but instead rethought how we support our goals. Rather than backfilling the position, we reshaped the work, introducing junior roles to support execution and leaning more on shared internal and external resources. We’re also strengthening our MarTech foundation, investing in tools that improve workflow, execution, and reporting efficiency so the team can spend more time on strategic work. Most importantly, we’re reinforcing how their efforts directly support our critical success factors, which has strengthened engagement and created a stronger foundation for the team’s long-term success.
Rebecca Napier. Vice President of Finance and Administration at The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (Albuquerque): At UNM Health Sciences Center, we’re addressing immediate workforce shortages by strengthening clinical placement capacity, leveraging partnerships, and streamlining pathways for students to enter critical roles more quickly. We’re aligning these near-term actions with data-informed strategies that reflect state and regional healthcare needs.
At the same time, we’re investing in long-term transformation—expanding interprofessional training and building pipeline programs through our Colleges of Nursing, Population Health, Pharmacy, and the School of Medicine. We’re also aligning with state initiatives to modernize health education and facilities, with the goal of doubling our health professions programs over the next decade to cultivate a workforce as diverse as the roles we need and the communities we serve.
It’s about balancing today’s pressures with tomorrow’s possibilities. Our dual focus ensures we address New Mexico’s current demands while building a resilient, future-ready health workforce.
Marco Priolo. Senior Vice President of Finance at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health: There is certainly a need to balance both. I have found that being transparent with our stakeholders about that is critical. Our front-line staff, clinicians, and operators understand the need to improve workforce productivity and find technology solutions to streamline processes in order to meet the growing needs of the community. Empowering them to help find solutions leads to better engagement and problem solving. Many of the ideas can help us address both the short-term and long-term challenges.
Zafar Chaudry, MD, MS, MBA. Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Officer and Chief AI and Chief Information Officer at Seattle Children’s: The balance between addressing immediate workforce pressures, such as acute staffing shortages and burnout, and executing long-term transformation is achieved through strategic dual focus: we manage short-term crises with flexible scheduling and targeted recruitment to maintain operational stability, while simultaneously embedding profound changes for the future. This long-term focus involves significant investment in digital literacy, redesigning workflows to integrate technologies like AI for task automation, and ultimately shifting the human role towards complex problem-solving and empathetic patient engagement, ensuring that immediate actions are always informed by a clear, sustained strategic vision for human capital evolution.
Cherie Smith, PhD, RN. President of Dublin Methodist and Grady Memorial Hospitals, OhioHealth: At OhioHealth, we are addressing short-term workforce pressures while strategically investing in long-term workforce transformation through innovative partnerships and community collaboration. A significant initiative to address this issue is our partnership with Columbus State Community College, designed to strengthen the healthcare talent pipeline across central Ohio. Recognizing the ongoing national shortages in key areas such as nursing, radiologic technology, respiratory therapy, and sterile processing, OhioHealth has committed a $25 million endowment to the Columbus State Community College Foundation. This investment will expand and sustain academic programs, fund faculty and staff, and enhance training for healthcare professions in high-demand fields. Investing in this partnership will build a sustainable model for developing local talent and will ensure our communities continue to receive high-quality, compassionate care. Additionally, this collaboration exemplifies our commitment to reshaping the future of healthcare in Central Ohio, one of the fastest growing large metro regions in the Midwest.
Airica Powell-Steed, EdD, MBA, RN, FACHE. Interim Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Loretto Hospital Network (Chicago): Balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation requires leading with both courage and creativity. With labor expenses still accounting for nearly 60% of healthcare costs while reimbursement models continue to shrink, sustainability now depends on leaders who are willing to think well beyond traditional models.
The path forward demands a people-first mindset….rebuilding trust, addressing burnout, and reconnecting teams to purpose, while simultaneously redesigning workforce systems that are financially sound, technologically smart, and culturally inclusive. The organizations that will endure and that will rise above the rest aren’t those that simply cut costs, but those that lead smarter, care harder, and recognize that people aren’t the expense…they are the strategy.
Dani Hackner, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical and Academic Officer at Southcoast Health System (New Bedford, Mass.): At Southcoast Health, we are seeing increasing volume growth in core areas (cardiovascular, oncology, orthopedics, and brain and spine) as well as ongoing growth in other major service lines such as family centered/ob-gyn care, medicine specialties, hospital medicine, intensive care, and level 2 trauma. Our growth is coupled with rising complexity, CMI, and present-on-admission conditions. To balance the short-term workforce pressures, we are continuing to shift to value-based sites of care, improving access to ambulatory primary care and subspecialties, and adjusting the mix of contracted and employed services. Where possible, we are eliminating reliance on overtime and locums in order to build workforce resilience and a predictable financial forecast. With centralized, payer-delegated credentialing, we are onboarding new providers more quickly and with high reliability.
To avoid spikes in workforce load, we are leveraging transformational technology to speed throughput decisions and reduce overtime, while maintaining the human touch and a culture of safety across the system. Acute progression of care rounds deploy EHR-integrated electronic whiteboards capturing milestones and metrics. Ambulatory services use tiered huddles to address issues just-in-time. RPM and standing orders as well as Epic Care Companion help reduce administrative burden and extend staff such with. Vetted self-service technology such as a dementia educational application supports caregivers and families and is available both free-standing and within MyChart. A centralized, contract-based post-acute provider program with strong performance management systems uses the latest SNF EHR technology to manage patients across the region. Like all, we are balancing the appropriate use of AI to alleviate loads while preserving human governance and human connection.
Where we have high complexity patients requiring high-touch human care, we have expanded expert labor but reduced redundancy. The continuity work partners expertise across the spectrum: hospitals, community outreach, health network, ACOs and quality teams. Collaboratively and deliberately we avoid silos, friction, and waste while building sensible support to teams. To markedly reduce custodial burden in inpatient settings, we initiated long-term medicolegal support with a focused team that unburdens clinicians delivering direct acute and critical care. To enable recovery in the community, we have deployed certified coaches in obstetrical teams, in emergency departments, on hospital floors and in community-based sites, further unloading acute staff while supporting community placement.
In the coming year, we anticipate expansion of sustainability efforts for the transforming workforce. We will deepen leadership training, mentoring programs, peer support, wellness programs, and strongly governed AI in our CHIME Level 10, CMS 4-Star system. We aim to buffer and sustain the workforce now delivering at a strong pace in increasingly turbulent healthcare markets. In all, Southcoast recognizes that with robust process engineering and human-centered systems, we can make the work transformation less turbulent, more team-based, and highly technologically leveraged.
Thomas Maddox, MD. Executive Director of Healthcare Innovation Lab at BJC Healthcare (St. Louis); Director of Clinical Innovation, Medicine Department and Medicine Professor of Cardiology at WashU Medicine: At WashU Medicine and BJC HealthCare, we are continually looking for ways to improve our clinicians’ experience and productivity in delivering care. Recent examples include our introduction of ambient AI to support clinical documentation and wearable sensors to guide our nurses in reducing pressure injuries among ICU patients.
Sandra Scott, MD. CEO of One Brooklyn Health (N.Y.): We’re approaching this as a dual mandate: stabilize today, reimagine for tomorrow. In the short term, we’re addressing workforce pressures with practical solutions, targeted recruitment, real-time staffing flexibility, and technology that reduces administrative burden so our teams can focus on care.
But we’re equally committed to long-term transformation. That means investing in our people through career pathways, embracing automation where it adds value, and rethinking how interdisciplinary teams work together. We’re not just reacting to workforce challenges; we’re redesigning the experience of work in healthcare to make it more sustainable and fulfilling. This balance requires discipline, empathy, and a clear vision.
Joseph Carr, RN. Vice President of Supply Chain at Akron Children’s (Ohio): At Akron Children’s, balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation means stabilizing today’s operations while building the workforce of the future. Like many pediatric health systems, we face persistent challenges in entry-level and non-skilled roles, where turnover, burnout, and budget constraints can strain daily operations. In the near term, we are focused on strengthening reliability through cross-training, workflow redesign, flexible staffing, and a strong team culture grounded in accountability and fit even when that requires difficult decisions to ensure long-term stability.
Looking ahead, we are investing in technology, automation, and AI to reduce manual workload, eliminate unskilled tasks, and create space for more analytical and technical roles. These tools are designed to enhance not replace our people, relieving operational strain and improving performance. By addressing immediate pressures while intentionally shaping a more efficient, technology-enabled workforce, Akron Children’s is building a sustainable supply chain and support services team prepared to support our hospital’s mission for years to come.
Mark Mabus, MD. Chief Medical Informatics Officer of Parkview Health (Fort Wayne, Ind.): For our providers, we have expanded ambient documentation, continue to optimize Epic workflows, and have deployed generative artificial intelligence tools that significantly reduce cognitive burden. In the long term, I would like to witness the entire patient encounter experience evolve with automation, advanced decision support integrated into a new end-user interface and experience, enabling clinicians to concentrate more on their patients and less on the technology. I continue to work with our vendors and informatics team, as well as thought leaders in the industry, to move in this direction.
Regarding my lead over our EHR analysts and Epic deployment, we are expanding our offerings to our analysts, such as providing flexible work options and perks like certifications in artificial intelligence through our partnership with Datacamp. We also offer healthcare IT educational opportunities with organizations like CHIME and internal leadership development. Parkview and our Parkview Epic Community Connect programs continue to grow organically, and we continue to value the strength of our analysts in helping to position Parkview as a leader in healthcare delivery.
Thomas W. Scott. President and CEO of CentraState Healthcare System (Freehold, N.J.): Adaptability is the key. We are seeing increased demand for agility in staffing, addressing turnover, and the need to maintain productivity amid economic uncertainty. These pressures require timely and effective near-term responses such as reallocating talent, accelerating hiring, upskilling for immediate needs, and reinforcing retention efforts. For long-term transformation, we must invest in preparing our workforce for the future, such as building digital fluency and capabilities, reimagining organizational structures, and cultivating adaptability and flexibility. Adaptive change management drives success in today’s complex business environment and in the long run.
Steve Smith. Assistant Vice President of Enterprise Contact Center and Access at Inova Health System (Fairfax, Va.): In the short term, we are further developing our workforce by cross training, providing additional education and utilizing a Workforce Management platform to maximize call center agent productivity and Quality Assurance acumen.
In the long term, our focus is on all things automation to provide patients better access to our system (clinical and non-clinical). This approach reduces the administrative burden on our team members and increases patient experience overall.
Michele Szkolnicki, BSN, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center: Balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation is one of the most critical challenges we are facing in healthcare today. In the immediate term, we have been focused on stabilizing staffing through recruitment, flexible scheduling, optimizing internal resources, and prioritizing well-being initiatives to reduce burnout and retain talent. These actions are ensuring we can meet patient needs without compromising quality or safety. We are seeing impressive results of our efforts with vacancy and retention rates both in the single digits and increasing staff engagement scores in a recent survey!
At the same time, we are investing in the future of nursing and care delivery. We are building robust career pathways, advancing leadership development, and leveraging technology to reduce administrative burden and enhance clinical efficiency. We are also reimagining care models to imagine new applications of virtual health and looking at the composition of care delivery teams to insert expertise in unique ways – thus preparing our workforce for a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.
We believe these strategies are interconnected and never-ending – as well as an opportunity to shape the future of care. By acting decisively today and planning boldly for tomorrow, we achieve our ultimate goal: creating a workforce that is resilient, empowered, and ready to deliver exceptional care in a continuing and ongoing manner.
Tina Garrison. COO of SSM Health St. Louis and S. IL Region: Balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term transformation demands a disciplined approach that avoids quick fixes at the expense of future resilience. While we address immediate staffing needs, we are equally committed to investing in development pipelines and leadership pathways that may take years to bear fruit. Every initiative is evaluated not only for its immediate impact but for its ability to set a strong precedent and serve as a foundation for future growth. This means acting with urgency without losing sight of the broader vision — harvesting what we need today while planting the seeds for tomorrow’s workforce. It’s a careful balance that ensures sustainability and adaptability in a rapidly evolving environment.
Naushad Amin, MD, MBA, MS. Chief Medical Officer of HealthFirst Palm Bay Hospital (Fla.): We are intentional about balancing immediate staffing needs while building a workforce that can withstand ongoing headwinds. We reduced reliance on locums and travelers by creating an internal provider pool with full-time, part-time, and per-diem coverage, which kept us stable through COVID and post-pandemic volatility. We’ve also strengthened collaboration across our network by aligning employed and independent providers, introduced AI-driven documentation tools to reduce administrative burden, and emphasized transparency and inclusivity in how we engage physicians in staffing decisions.
Looking ahead, we’re planning for retiring physicians and recruiting early in primary care and key specialties in line with market demands. We continue to invest in wellness, burnout prevention, and physician leadership development to retain talent. At the same time, we’re expanding our pipeline through medical student rotations and GME development, knowing that physicians who train in-state are much more likely to stay. This approach allows us to manage current pressures while building a more stable, resilient, and inclusive workforce for the future.
Adrienne D. Sims, PsyD. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Indiana University Health (Indianapolis): We’re equally focused on managing short-term workforce pressures and establishing long-term solutions. A key to our short-term strategy is reducing reliance on traveler nurses by expanding our permanent nursing team. We have also created a workforce development center that helps unemployed and underemployed individuals find good jobs in healthcare.
As we build for the long term, we’re also implementing a multi-year workforce strategy by region to better forecast labor shortfalls and improve workforce planning. In parallel, we’re developing multiple talent pipelines including an expanded focus on K-12 and campus recruiting and continued focus on our nursing scholarship program to reduce financial barriers for future nurses. We are also implementing a new career framework that will provide team members with greater transparency to support opportunities for lateral and upward mobility across our system.
Dionne Dixon, PhD. Regional Executive Director, NW of CommonSpirit Health (Chicago): We are approaching our short term workforce pressures and our long term workforce strategies, as a unified continuum versus separately, because they both inform/build on each other. We actively manage through what our teams/operations need right now (filling critical vacancies, navigating agency usage, adjusting staffing models, reducing burnout and turn over, and making sure people have what they need to safely care for patients and themselves), but in each solution, we are PDSA-ing and FMA-ing not only how well an approach works for now, but also if it is viable for the look ahead.
For example, because we continuously evaluate traditional methods of filling critical vacancies and found them to be wanting, we have already pivoted to a multi-pronged approach of growing our own talent, strengthening existing pipelines, creating our own ‘nimble-modular’ training academy, redesigning our care models, and opening doors for people who historically haven’t had access to healthcare careers. There is definitely an understanding of long and short term measures, one gets us through now, while the other makes sure we won’t be in this same cycle five years from now, but our approach is a continuum versus two separate bodies of work.
Deesha K. Brown, JD. Senior Director of Community Clinics Network Operations at UCLA Health (Los Angeles): As I reflected on the question, ‘How are you balancing short-term workflow pressures with long-term transformation?’ I realized how deeply it captures the daily reality for most leaders, particularly within complex healthcare organizations. I often describe this as the duality of leadership: the ability to manage immediate demands while maintaining a steady focus on long-range strategic priorities. It is the work we must do every single day.
The ‘how’ is nestled somewhere between tenacity, commitment, and an unwavering focus on strategic priorities, organizational stewardship, and measurable results. Yet it remains a delicate balance-because meaningful transformation requires paradigm shifts through reinvention of culture, intentional change management, and the capacity to scale innovative ideas, none of which can be quelled under the weight of daily pressures or emerging crises.
As I continued to reflect, I thought of an image outside my office in Westwood: a UCLA surgeon donning a surgical mask and the words ‘Keep overcoming every challenge.’ This powerful message serves as a daily reminder of why we do this work — and of the resolve required to navigate the balance between responding to the moment and shaping the future. It captures the spirit of leadership in healthcare: to keep going, keep transforming, and to keep overcoming, no matter the challenge.
Trevor Walker. Senior Vice President of Talent, Learning and Capabilities at CommonSpirit Health (Chicago): At CommonSpirit Health, we’re balancing immediate workforce pressures with long-term transformation by taking a dual-track approach. This approach includes:
- Near-Term Focus (Immediate Workforce Pressures): Investing in targeted staffing stabilization, expanding support for clinical teams, and prioritizing the well-being of caregivers.
- Long-Term Focus (Transformation): Developing new talent pipelines, modernizing the learning and development ecosystem, and redesigning roles to prepare the workforce for the future of care.
This combination of immediate action and long-range capability building ensures we meet present needs while strategically preparing our workforce and the organization for future challenges.
LeWanza M. Harris, MD. Chief Quality Officer of Emory Healthcare (Atlanta): Given the changes in healthcare and the evolving nature of data and technology, we have built career paths for growth to improve retention and engagement. We have also developed a workforce alignment plan to make sure staff are upskilled and possess agility to meet the demands of today and future roles.
To foster a supportive environment of embracing change, it’s important to constantly articulate the vision, the ‘why’ for the transformation, and the initiatives that support the activities that enhance individual/team performance and add value to their work. This strategy builds trust, manages change, and encourages ownership of change, which ultimately allows staff to contribute in a more meaningful way.
We are leveraging data and technology by using AI to manage routine tasks in chart abstraction for sepsis. As a result, data abstractors can focus on more high-value activities to connect their work to bedside patient care through rounds and education of staff on the value of improving sepsis.
Scott Kashman. President and CEO of Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascension St. Vincent’s Southside: Our organization is focused on aligning talent with the needs of our strategic
growth areas and developing high performance leaders & teams.
This includes partnerships with local universities on clinical development and recruitment. In addition, there is collaboration with our Human Resources Business Partner. She leads and oversees our work on a few key programs:
- Lead Like a CEO: Year-long program equipping leaders to create vision, think strategically, influence effectively, and drive results.
- Roundtables: Real-time feedback sessions shaping initiatives and strengthening communication across all levels. This goes ‘7 layers deep’ from our chief team to front line, nights and weekend teams.
- Micro-Learnings: Quarterly, in-person learning sessions to build core management skills.
Frances Kelly, PhD, MSN. Director of Women’s Services at East Georgia Regional Medical Center (Statesboro, Ga.): As a nursing leader, the need to balance short-term workforce pressures with long-term workforce transformation has never been more important. There are many short-term workforce pressures including but not limited to meeting staffing needs, reducing voluntary turnover, and meeting financial and productivity targets while providing safe and quality patient-centered care.
While more expensive, a time-limited use of contract or premium labor can bridge immediate staffing needs until new team members can complete orientation and training or until tenured team members can return from a leave of absence. Ensuring safe and appropriate nurse-to-patient staffing ratios helps to reduce potential patient harm and team member stress and frustration which can reduce voluntary team member turnover.
Leader rounding is another way to support team members and foster an effective rapport. Leader rounding promotes open communication and opportunities for the leader to better understand how team members wish to be supported and their professional goals achieved. Team members who have opportunities to learn and grow tend to be more engaged. More engaged team members are less likely to leave, also helping reduce voluntary turnover.
Hiring for cultural and attitudinal fit is an excellent strategy for long-term workforce stability. Using behaviorally based interview questions that focus on key skills and characteristics most needed in a particular clinical area is one way to identify candidates most qualified and appropriately motivated to join a team.
Providing short-term gap solutions to address staffing needs, rounding on team members to maintain open communication and identify staff goals, and hiring for cultural fit are ways to stabilize staffing and reduce voluntary turnover. Managing voluntary turnover is a long-term strategy that promotes safe patient care and offers a solid foundation for team member training, development, and professional growth.
Ngozi Ezike, MD. President and CEO of Sinai Chicago: In the short term, we are focused on safety and supportive measures to help our caregivers do their best work to provide quality and compassionate care each day. These efforts include improving equipment availability, increasing leader visibility on the units and management coaching. We have also put tools in place to help with workload balance and attentiveness to our caregivers’ mental and emotional needs. This includes initiatives to address workplace violence, hosting townhalls and “Real Talk” sessions focused on caregiver concerns, in addition to the regular cadence of team huddles to enhance communication.
At the same time, we are focused on longer term investment in our leaders and caregivers as we continue to grow and transform our safety net system in an ever-changing healthcare market. Some of these foundational initiatives include leader and management succession, frontline and beginning manager cohort trainings to develop future leaders and continued assessment and enhancement of our human resources programs and services to enhance leadership ability and growth.
We are investing in our clinical workforce through nurse clinical step advancement, offering extensive medical student training opportunities. Sinai Chicago is a designated clinical training site for numerous schools educating future health practitioners and we have developed and implemented advanced education caregiver assistance programs that include career coaching pathways.
Ultimately, balancing today’s pressures with tomorrow’s needs requires us to care for our caregivers as intentionally as we care for our patients. Our short-term actions stabilize the workforce we rely on today, while our long-term investments strengthen the one we will rely on tomorrow. This balance ensures we can continue to deliver on our safety net mission of care for those who need it most, today and in the future.
Kaleem Qazi. Vice President of Operations at Insight Hospital and Medical Center Chicago: The healthcare market keeps shifting, and it’s putting real pressure on our teams right now. So we’ve focused on getting everyone aligned, communicating clearly, and making sure people feel supported day to day. That helps us manage the immediate bumps without overwhelming the workforce.
At the same time, we know safety-net hospitals are facing bigger, long-term challenges. So while we’re tackling the short-term gaps, we’re also building for the future — rethinking roles, growing our own talent, and using tools that take some of the load off our teams.
For us, it’s about taking care of people today while creating a workforce model that can actually hold up for tomorrow.
Eric Cioe-Peña, MD. Vice President of Global Health, Center for Global Health at Northwell Health (New Hyde Park, N.Y.): We are approaching this through a dual path that addresses the immediate gaps while building a sustainable workforce pipeline for the future. In the short term we are stabilizing critical services by expanding targeted recruitment, strengthening retention through improved working conditions, and deploying focused external support only where it does not create dependency. At the same time we are investing heavily in long-term education and training by expanding nursing and medical education capacity, creating structured postgraduate pathways, and building clinical training sites that allow Guyanese providers to advance without leaving the country. This gives us the ability to manage today’s pressures while ensuring the system becomes self-sufficient over time.
Sowmya Viswanathan, MD. Chief Physician Executive at BayCare Health System (Clearwater, Fla.): Health systems across the country have many challenges balancing short-term workforce pressures with long-term workforce transformation. As the chief physician executive of BayCare Health System, the largest health system in West Central Florida, this is something our senior leadership prioritizes.
BayCare is recognized for its safety and quality; our system focuses on patient safety through continuous improvement. Short term pain points include clinician burnout (physicians and nurses), recruitment and retention of staff and inequities in demand versus supply of providers. With Florida being a high growth market, the cost of living has escalated very rapidly, leading to health systems pressures of managing fair market value compensation for all staff and retaining them to work in Florida. The rapid growth has also led to increased demand for healthcare and shortages of providers, leading to access issues.
From a long-term transformation standpoint, we are catering to the healthcare workforce of the future with significant investments in technology such as AI, and voice activated smart devices to help our clinical teams and ensure efficiencies. We are ensuring evolving care delivery models and staying current by embracing robotics, genomics, telehealth, virtual care, hospital at home programs, increased APP integration in practices, remote patient monitoring and assistive devices. We continue to expand services around existing practices while looking for opportunities to innovate. Modernizing BayCare with transformation is the way we want to lead!
Kety Duron. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Phoenix Children’s: Healthcare CHROs are navigating a complex set of headwinds, including persistent talent shortages, employee and physician burnout, generational differences and the accelerating pace of change. These challenges can be daily disruptions that require reactive solutions, but they can also result in opportunities and serve as the blueprint for long-term transformation. For example, talent shortages are not only a near-term staffing issue, but they serve as a catalyst for long-term workforce planning for CHROs. At the same time, burnout and disengagement have required us to adopt new approaches and immediate solutions. These circumstances underscore the importance of creating and investing in psychologically safe environments and leading with empathy. CHROs are also prioritizing management training to develop change agents who can effectively drive and sustain organizational transformation, both internally and externally. At Phoenix Children’s, we are intentionally balancing short-term solutions with long-term strategies to build a resilient workforce that supports our people today while building the culture and capabilities needed for the future.
