Pa. hospitals are offering higher pay, flexible hours, and even child care to retain workers, survey finds

The number of open positions for health-care workers in Pennsylvania hospitals is declining as hospitals spend more to retain employees, according to a new survey by a statewide group representing hospitals.

Staffing has challenged the health-care industry since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Nurses, techs, and other medical staffers left hospital jobs, citing burnout and unsafe working conditions. As the number of vacancies increased at hospitals, employees still working had to care for more patients, making their jobs harder.

Hospitals have met urgent staffing needs by spending more on temporary nurses from contracting agencies. Hospitals have also been investing in incentives to retain workers, a report published last month by the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania found.

Nearly all hospitals surveyed said they have been raising pay and offering more flexible work schedules. Nearly 90% of hospitals also reported offering professional development opportunities or tuition reimbursement.

Turnover rate across state hospitals declined by 28% last year, and the vacancy rate in some fields was cut in half. In 2022, over 30% of positions for registered nurses in hospitals were unfilled. Last year, 14% were open.

“Those things are keeping nurses and other health-care workers in the hospital,” said Nicole Stallings, HAP’s president and CEO. “However, we are still facing double-digit vacancy rates across virtually every position within the hospital.”

HAP surveyed all of its member hospitals on workforce trends last fall. Nearly 100 hospitals responded, representing every region of Pennsylvania and more than 50% of licensed hospital beds in the state.

About a third of hospitals cited access to adequate child care as a top barrier to hiring. In response, nearly 40% of hospitals have been offering child care services at some capacity. That strategy can help bring back workers who left during the pandemic when schools shut down, Stallings said.

Still, more people need to join the workforce to see hospitals fully staffed, she said.

Last month, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced a partnership with Mastery Schools to create a high school focused on training students for health-care jobs. Stallings hopes to see more initiatives of this kind.

“This is how we can grow and keep people within our communities,” she said.