Workforce

Florida hospitals and health care systems continue to face critical workforce shortages, exponential growth in their labor costs, and ongoing dependency on temporary staffing. The dramatic rise in hospital labor costs—combined with inflation and significant losses in hospital budget reserves from the stock market decline—increases the financial strain on hospitals. Hospitals have seen historically high turnover rates among nurses of over 32%, and based on a 2021 FHA analysis, the state faces an overall shortage of 59,000 nurses by 2035.

The current market requires hospitals to enact extraordinary measures to retain staff and fill vacancies, including salary market adjustments to address the value of labor in the current economic conditions. Hospitals are also implementing various changes to support their health care teams and increase retention, including maximizing the skills of every team member and leveraging technology to reduce the administrative burden on their staff. Hospitals are partnering with community colleges, university systems, and private schools to expand the capacity of nursing school programs and increase the supply of future graduates.

FHA Hospital Labor Cost Analysis
As you confront one of the worst health care workforce shortages in decades – combined with significant, ongoing dependency on costly contracted staff and across-the-board rising costs as a result of inflation – we recently surveyed all Florida hospitals to better capture the impact of your skyrocketing labor costs. The FHA Data & Research team worked with several hospitals to refine the survey prior to its release and over the last couple of weeks has been analyzing the data and information submitted.

The resulting “Hospital Labor Costs” handout summarizes the survey data we collected. Total dollars spent on contracted staff increased by over 489% since 2019; salary market adjustments increased by nearly 300% since 2019.

Download the one-pager here.

FHA Vacancy & Turnover Analysis
FHA recognizes that hospitals and health systems are facing severe obstacles in hiring and retaining health care workers, and we remain committed to supporting hospitals with critical data such as the vacancy and turnover data and the recent labor cost analysis. We are also working closely with public policy makers to increase their awareness and understanding of these critical challenges facing the health care system. We will continue working with key stakeholders, lawmakers, and statewide education leaders to strengthen the workforce pipeline, expand the capacity of nursing school programs and increase the supply of future graduates.

Download the one-pager here.

Florida Nurse Workforce Projections: 2019 to 2035
To support workforce planning efforts and help ensure an adequate supply of nurses in the future, The Florida Hospital Association and the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida engaged IHS Markit to develop projections of future supply and demand for registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), advanced practices nurses (APRNs), and physicians in the state. This report presents findings on the RN and LPN workforces; a companion report presents findings on the physician and APRN workforces. Projected nurse supply is compared to projected demand to determine base year (2019) and projected future adequacy of nurse supply through 2035.

Download the report here.

FHA Workforce Funding Issue Briefs

Addressing the workforce challenge continues to be a top priority of the Florida Hospital Association. The topic of workforce funding, including the newly created PIPELINE and LINE programs, has been discussed in recent meetings with the Policy and Workforce Committees. These discussions have focused on educational programs and homeownership assistance for health care professionals.

The FHA Policy Department has been receiving requests for more information about these programs. In response, FHA has developed the following issue briefs to provide additional background on recent federal and state funding programs created to address workforce education, recruitment, and retention issues.

Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) Issue Brief
Florida faces a critical physician shortage, projected to reach 18,000 by 2035, highlighting the urgent need for an expanded physician workforce to care for its aging and growing population. The COVID-19 pandemic has further emphasized the importance of health care providers in our nation's infrastructure. To address this issue, it is essential to increase Medicare funding for Graduate Medical Education (GME) and lift the 1996 cap on the number of Medicare-funded GME slots. Expanding GME support will enable more physicians to complete their post-medical school training through primary residencies and specialty/subspecialty fellowships, ultimately leading to a stronger and more robust health care system in Florida.

Download the Issue Brief here.

Nursing Education
$125 million in nursing education programs for the 2022-2023 state fiscal year for two programs: Prepping Institutions, Programs, Employers, and Learners through Incentives for Nursing Education (PIPELINE) and Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) programs. These programs focus on addressing the growing workforce demand the state is facing.

Download the Issue Brief here.

Hometown Heroes Housing Program
$100 million for the 2022-2023 state fiscal year to establish the Hometown Heroes Housing program. The is a zero-interest loan program that provides upfront payment for a down payment and closing costs to assist health care professionals with home ownership.

Download the Issue Brief here.

HRSA Grant Investing in the Nursing Preceptor
$15 million in Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant funds to grow the nursing workforce, improve access to nursing education, and advance health equity. The grant funding includes $10 million for Clinical Faculty and Preceptor Academies Program and $4.75 million for over three years for a Registered Nurse Training Program.

Download the Issue Brief here.