Capacities: Workforce Supply, Planning and Advocacy

The U.S. will need to hire 2.3 million new health care workers by 2025.* An aging population, a rise in chronic diseases and increased behavioral health conditions contribute to the need to strategically plan for a workforce that can meet the demands of today and tomorrow. As hospitals and health systems re-deploy providers in response to new care models, the AHA helps hospitals implement strategies for workforce planning, recruitment, retention and development that best serve the needs of the community.

Hospitals and health systems are actively planning for their labor needs, but we cannot rely on planning and recruitment alone to ensure every hospital has the appropriate supply of professionals for their communities. We need to address the larger societal issues and policies that will allow the appropriate talent to develop and grow into the health care system. The AHA works to advocate for resources and policies, at an organizational or governmental level, that support a robust and healthy workforce on a national level. The AHA mobilizes members, state associations and other stakeholders around these issues so that the labor-intensive health field is prepared to handle our nation’s health care needs.

* Demand for Healthcare Workers Will Outpace Supply by 2025: An Analysis of the US Healthcare Labor Market, Mercer HPA, 2018.

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