Health systems are racing to redesign care models, deploy artificial intelligence and prepare for long-term workforce shortages. Yet leaders across the industry say many transformation efforts stall for a familiar reason: organizations attempt to build the future without first relieving the pressure of the present.
Transformation cannot succeed while the workforce remains overwhelmed by competing priorities, operational noise and unsustainable workloads. Before new care models, technologies or workforce strategies can take hold, leaders must first create space by stabilizing daily operations, clarifying priorities and reducing friction that prevents staff from doing their best work.
Joy Oh, chief information and digital transformation officer of The Christ Hospital Health Network in Cincinnati, said leaders must resist the idea that transformation can proceed even with stressed-out teams.
“I personally don’t believe that balancing short-term workforce pressures is sustainable or conducive to workforce transformation,” Ms. Oh said. “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.”
At Christ Hospital, that meant fundamentally rethinking how work is prioritized. The organization revamped its IT governance model to ensure teams were focused on the highest-priority initiatives aligned with enterprise strategy.
“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,” she said.
The system also doubled down on capacity and demand planning, requiring teams to consistently document resource availability and actual time spent on work. Teams responded well.
“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,” Ms. Oh said.
Other leaders echoed the idea that stabilizing day-to-day operations is a prerequisite for longer-term redesign. Sean O’Grady, president of acute and ambulatory care at Endeavor Health in Evanston, Ill., said minimizing daily friction is a leadership responsibility, especially as workforce shortages remain a long-term reality.
“In the short-term, it’s our responsibility to minimize the pressures that prevent our people from doing their best work,” Mr. O’Grady said.
Endeavor Health is pairing near-term pressure relief with longer-term investments in workflow and system design to remove tasks that distract from patient care and team connection.
Clinical leaders in California are up against similar challenges. Shayna Long, MSN, RN, director of clinical informatics at UC Irvine Health, said her approach to solving workforce stress and burnout starts with rapid course correction when pressure threatens patient care.
“I manage short-term workforce pressures by immediately responding and changing course based on how it impacts patient care,” Ms. Long said. “All while investing in long-term transformation through automation, analytics, and skill development aligned with our digital health strategy.”
Nursing leaders also emphasized the importance of grounding workforce strategy in engagement and mission while addressing immediate challenges. Mila Sprouse, EdD, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer of the Providence Swedish North Puget Sound Region, said stabilizing today’s environment starts with shared governance and frontline involvement.
“Balancing short-term pressures with long-term transformation is about staying grounded in our mission,” Dr. Sprouse said.
Operational leaders described similar sequencing. Pooja Vyas, DO, system vice president of care coordination liaison, physician and provider advisement at SSM Health in St. Louis, said restoring stability is essential before investing in long-term workforce development.
“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,” Dr. Vyas said. The health system is focused long-term on value-based care and virtual health, so Dr. Vyas designed career pathways aligned with the evolving care models and is upskilling teammates accordingly.
“Technology plays a key role in both short- and long-term strategies,” she said. “We’re integrating AI and automation to support decision-making and reduce administrative load, not replace clinicians.”
James Fenush, MS, RN, vice president of nursing emergency services and clinical support services at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said leaders must address daily operational barriers while keeping strategic priorities in focus.
“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,” Mr. Fenush said. “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.”
Failing to do both creates risk, he said.
“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,” Mr. Fenush said.
Unrelenting pressure erodes the capacity for change altogether. Even small interventions can help teams recover margin for strategic work, particularly in hybrid and remote environments.
“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,’” Ms. Oh said.
Across roles and regions, leaders shared a consistent message: transformation cannot be layered on top of burnout. Without first removing friction, clarifying priorities and restoring capacity, even the most ambitious workforce strategies risk stalling before they begin.
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