Executives join the healthcare workforce exodus

Nearly half of healthcare executives are planning to head for the door within the next year and one in four aim to leave within the next six months, according to a survey from AMN Healthcare. 

The survey asked just shy of 600 healthcare executives across the country about their plans and challenges.

“Turnover among both healthcare executives and clinical professionals such as physicians, nurses, and others remains a key strategic challenge facing healthcare facilities,” said Mary Newell, Vice President of Physician and Leadership Search for AMN Healthcare in a statement. “Post pandemic, many healthcare professionals are reassessing where, when and how they work.”

Job offers aren’t hard to come by

Finding a new position likely won’t be difficult for those planning to leave. About 3 in 4 executives said they’ve already received solid job offers in the past six months.

Meanwhile, their current organizations will face an uphill battle replacing them. A whopping 80% of survey participants said filling leadership roles is at least moderately challenging in today’s market.

Tech leadership is on the rise

While clinical leadership remains most important, technology-focused roles are quickly gaining ground. Information Technology, Cybersecurity, and Artificial Intelligence now rank as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th most important leadership roles. Cybersecurity and AI saw particularly big jumps compared to last year’s survey.

“Healthcare providers are accelerating their application of technology to increase efficiency, enhance clinical diagnosis and outcomes, and protect patient data. This requires both hard assets and the leadership talent to optimally apply them,” Newell points out. 

Money worries and staffing headaches lead the list of concerns

What keeps healthcare executives up at night? Financial pressures topped the list (57%), followed closely by workforce issues (50%), government regulations (34%), and keeping up with technology (21%).

To tackle these challenges, organizations are trying several approaches: expanding existing services (49%), cutting costs (41%), adding new service lines (35%), and growing value-based care (31%).

Leaders seem more engaged than frontline staff

The survey revealed a concerning gap in engagement levels. While 63% of leadership teams were seen as “highly engaged,” only 30% of doctors and 33% of nurses received the same rating. This gap highlights a real problem, especially since 17% of physicians and 12% of nurses were rated as having “low engagement” – not great news for those providing direct patient care.

What makes leaders stay?

Despite the high turnover plans, the survey found several factors that encourage executives to remain with their organizations: a positive workplace culture (44%), good relationships with colleagues (39%), competitive pay and benefits (38%), and flexible work schedules (20%).

For top executives, culture matters most – it was the number one factor for 52% of C-level leaders. Meanwhile, director-level leaders (41%) pointed to compensation as their main reason to stay.

How organizations are tackling recruitment challenges

To address leadership recruitment difficulties, healthcare organizations are widening their candidate search (40%), working with executive search firms (39%), offering better compensation (37%), and adding more HR resources (36%).

Interim leadership is also becoming more popular, with 28% having used temporary executives in the past year and 40% considering this approach for 2025.

The bottom line? Healthcare organizations need to focus on creating positive workplace cultures and competitive compensation packages if they want to keep their leaders from walking out the door. With the right leadership team in place, they’ll be better equipped to handle financial pressures, new technologies, and workforce challenges in the year ahead.