Vital Signs 2023

Healthcare sector outlook covering key themes that impact healthcare systems, owners and operators.

This time last year, major topics included the budgetary pressures on healthcare systems, the tight labor market and moving beyond pandemic recovery. Now, we face greater challenges and seek solutions for a healthcare system that continues to face labor constraints and as healthcare assets face restrictive equity and debt in the capital markets landscape. Long-existing challenges with labor shortages and costs continue to plague the sector, with inflation, short staffing, long hours and contract labor driving healthcare unions to push for new agreements. While talent continues to flow into the sector, particularly as nursing and physician assistant roles grow in popularity, labor will be a continual challenge for the sector in the medium term.

Labor Pools Growing to Address Labor Challenges 

Healthcare systems are grappling with ongoing labor shortages, driven by factors such as inflation, short staffing, long hours and expensive contract labor. Recently, there is growing availability of talent across healthcare job categories, leading to a more dynamic labor market in the medium term.