American Health Care Faces a Staffing Crisis And It ’ s Affecting Care

Hospitals, urgent care facilities, clinics, and imaging centers throughout the United States are experiencing staffing issues. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, costs have reached new highs as institutions are forced to staff their facilities with temporary health professionals due to rising turnover, fluctuations in demand, and evolving appreciations for work-life balance. These temporary, or “locums,” physicians, mid-level administrators, travel nurses, therapists, and technicians are paid many multiples more than regular staff. Frequently, existing long-term employees feel undervalued in relation to these temporary workers and some resign to join the rapidly expanding pool of locums healthcare workers while others seek out early retirement. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] This burgeoning crisis has greatly affected the bottom line of healthcare facilities, with many of the country’s leading hospital centers posting massive losses. Institutions were already operating at the margins prior to 2020, but the pandemic only increased demands from facilities while also producing skyrocketing expenses. Even more detrimental to the public is the closing of smaller hospitals and community-based clinics, especially in rural and underserved areas. These centers had even less financial buffer to survive through financial hardship. This trend has created health care deserts, significantly impacting maternal care and emergency medicine, among other critical areas...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized freelance health Source Type: news