Hospital CEOs: Workforce shortages outweigh financials as top concern in 2021

“Both long- and short-term solutions are needed to address the shortages in critical front-line staff shown in our study to ensure hospitals have workforces that can meet the demands for safe, high-quality care both today and in the future,” Deborah Bowen, president and CEO of ACHE, said in a statement. Financial challenges still scored high among the respondents, many of whom specifically highlighted the increasing costs for staff and supplies (87%), a need to reduce operating costs (53%) and issues around Medicaid reimbursement (52%) as areas of concern for their hospitals. Top issues ranked by the CEOs after personnel shortages and financial challenges were, in descending order: patient safety and quality, behavioral health and addiction issues, governmental mandates, access to care, patient satisfaction, physician-hospital relations, technology, population health management and reorganization at their hospitals.