Hospitals' per patient labor spend increased 37% from 2019 to Q1 2022

Hospitals across the country have seen their per-patient labor expense increase by more than a third since 2019, largely due to the spike in contract labor prices during the delta and omicron surges, Kaufman Hall reports. While Kaufman Hall cited reports on nurses and other healthcare workers departing the industry as a contributing factor in the expense increases, the firm placed primary blame for the spending trends on contract labor utilization and pricing. Increases in contract labor utilization were seen across each region of the country and across each type of facility, peaking at 12% for acute care hospitals during the first quarter of 2022, Kaufman Hall wrote.