More than 43,000 people work together in our hospitals to deliver critical care to New Hampshire residents when they need it most. One of the New Hampshire Hospital Association’s key priorities is addressing the health care workforce shortages that plague hospitals throughout the state. Exacerbating the staffing challenges facing our member hospitals is the unprecedented global pandemic that has caused health care facilities to be inundated with patients, both with COVID-19 and those who delayed care resulting in much more acute chronic illness.
These last three years of the COVID-19 pandemic have strained hospital resources and capacity like never before and has significantly impacted the people who provide care inside the walls of our hospitals. Burnout and fatigue have plagued the frontlines and many health care workers have left the field altogether.
While health care workforce shortages existed long before COVID-19, staffing costs and other pandemic-related challenges have led to an unsustainable situation that threatens hospitals’ ability to care for patients simply because they can’t hire enough skilled staff.
Increasing and supporting the health care workforce is a top priority for the New Hampshire Hospital Association. Collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders including higher education institutions, other health care provider associations, government entities and private organizations is essential to combat the severe shortage of physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals and to identify and support comprehensive solutions that bolster the resiliency and sustainability of today’s health care workforce as well as create new pathways for the next generation to enter the health care workforce.
