In 2026, the FIFA World Cup will be hosted across 16 cities in North America, with the majority of matches taking place in the United States. For health systems, this is not a one-day surge event. It is a multiweek, multisite operation that reshapes the regional environment in which hospitals operate, placing sustained pressure on labor markets, contracted services, and supply chains across multiple jurisdictions.
Events of this scale require rapid expansion of services. Construction, hospitality, transportation, cleaning, and security must scale quickly, often on compressed timelines. To meet that demand, employers frequently rely on temporary labor, subcontractors, and third-party recruiters, sometimes drawing workers from other regions or countries.
When workers are recruited quickly through intermediaries — especially under tight deadlines and cost pressures — certain risks increase. Some workers are charged illegal recruitment fees, are misled about wages or job conditions, or are placed into debt before they ever arrive at a worksite. Others have their documents withheld or are threatened with job loss or immigration consequences if they speak up. This is labor trafficking.
Labor trafficking is not a risk created by the World Cup. It is a persistent, year-round reality in every region where healthcare operates. What large, prolonged events do is intensify the conditions in which exploitation is most likely to occur and least likely to be detected — particularly upstream during recruitment and labor mobilization.
Hospitals and health systems sit downstream of these dynamics. Individuals experiencing labor exploitation may present for care with injuries, occupational exposures, untreated medical conditions, or mental health symptoms, often without disclosing the circumstances that caused them. Health systems also rely on contractor networks and global supply chains that are affected by the same pressures. For hospital leaders, the World Cup is therefore a stress test of preparedness for risks that already exist.
Importantly, preparedness does not require hospitals to invent new programs. However, it does require moving beyond informal awareness toward intentional alignment across existing clinical, operational, and compliance functions using evidence-based approaches to trafficking prevention and response.
Clinically, this means ensuring that physicians, nurses, and advanced practice providers — across emergency medicine, primary care, obstetrics, psychiatry, and occupational health — can recognize labor and sex trafficking and respond in a trauma-informed way, supported by clear referral pathways.
Preparedness also extends beyond clinicians. Nonclinical staff — security, environmental services, facilities teams, and interpreters — often observe early warning signs. Workforcewide awareness expands detection and supports safe escalation.
Operationally, hospitals can address risk through procurement and supply chain diligence, assessing exposure to forced labor in construction projects, contracted services, and high-risk goods categories.
Hospitals do not have to navigate this alone. HEAL Trafficking offers evidence-based, survivor-informed training and tools designed for healthcare settings. The Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management provides resources to help procurement teams assess forced labor risk and strengthen ethical sourcing.
The 2026 World Cup will bring unprecedented attention and operational strain to host regions. But labor trafficking will not arrive with the opening match — and it will not leave when the final whistle blows. Health systems will encounter its consequences regardless. The question for hospital leaders is not whether trafficking belongs on their agenda, but whether their systems are prepared when it appears. This moment offers a clear choice: React later, or prepare now.
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.