According to a report from the Wisconsin Hospital Association, the health care workforce is growing but not rapidly enough to keep pace with demand driven by Wisconsin’s aging population and a shrinking labor pool.
The Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report shows hospital employment has increased 23 percent over the last decade, and vacancy rates have improved from a pandemic peak of 10 percent in 2022 to 7.2 percent in 2024. The gains leave Wisconsin hospitals with vacancy rates more than double pre-pandemic levels, and demographic trends suggest the pressure will intensify.
“Wisconsin hospitals have made real progress in hiring and retention, but we’re in a race against time,” said Ann Zenk, WHA senior vice president of workforce and clinical practice. “Health care demand is projected to rise 10 percent by 2040 while our working-age population continues to shrink. ”
Wisconsin’s working-age population has been declining since 2010 and is projected to continue shrinking through 2050. Meanwhile, residents 65 and older, who use health care at more than twice the rate of working-age adults, represent the fastest-growing segment of the population. Ninety-three percent of adults 65 and older have at least one chronic condition, and 79 percent have two or more.
According to the American Hospital Association, the average-size hospital dedicates 59 full-time staff to regulatory compliance, one-in-four of whom are doctors or nurses who could otherwise be providing direct patient care.
In 2002, Wisconsin had 46,000 nursing home beds. In 2024, that number is just 26,000, despite the elderly Medicaid population nearly doubling.
Physician shortages also remain a concern. WHA reports an overall vacancy rate for physicians employed by respondents of more than 15 percent. This is despite concerted effort over the past decade to “Grow Our Own” through a Wisconsin Department of Health Services graduate medical education training grant program.
WHA’s 2026 report calls for immediate and sustained action across multiple fronts. Key recommendations include:
- Break down barriers to entering and remaining in the health care workforce.
- Reduce legal, regulatory and payer barriers that delay or deny care
- Ensure new requirements provide clear benefit relative to administrative burden
- Expand accessible and achievable education and career pathways.
- Encourage innovative care models supported by technology, including telehealth monitoring, recovery at home and hospital at home programs
- Identify opportunities to integrate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence; and
- Update state law to support patient and family decision-making to relieve bottlenecks in post-acute care settings.
