Workforce

As the job market for the healthcare sector continues to steam along, there's a smudge on the bright horizon: Healthcare organizations lack leadership strategy.

The New Year brought a surge in turnover among the nation’s CEOs, with 123 leaving their posts in January, according to a recent report from global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CGC). Healthcare led the pack with 25 departures, up from nine a year ago.

After two decades of dealing with a chronic labor shortage, healthcare has reached a crossroads – while a tight job market has produced plenty of applicants, finding and attracting top talent still remains a challenge, employment analysts say.

The labor force is the largest cost center in the healthcare industry, and organizations are always looking for ways to manage it more effectively and efficiently.

Hospitals and healthcare systems are increasingly coming up with ways to keep their employees healthy and motivated to stay active with the hope that this message will resonate to their surrounding communities as well.

Kathy Love Chief Executive Officer Clark Regional Medical Center Winchester, KY

In an era where healthcare organizations are expected to implement complex initiatives within the constraints of limited budgets, quantifying the efficiency and effectiveness of every function – including hiring – is essential.

Researchers predict the number of healthcare jobs will grow by 30 percent between 2010 and 2020.

January was a record month for healthcare merger and acquisition activity with 95 deals worth a combined total of $17.2 billion being transacted, according to a recent report from healthcare M&A data publisher Irving Levin Associates.

Near-term demand for healthcare workers is the strongest in San Francisco, Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif., and Denver, says Health Workforce Solutions LLC's Labor Market Pulse Index released today for Q1 2012.