Hospital and health system executives entered 2026 with workforce stability high on their list of concerns, citing pressure to preserve culture, control labor costs, and maintain staffing resilience as financial strain and post-pandemic demands continue to reshape care delivery. Becker’s Hospital Review reported that it asked 103 C-suite leaders from hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers, and universities to identify the year’s most pressing workforce challenges and their responses. 

Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of Scripps Health, told Becker’s that one of the biggest workforce challenges is “maintaining our culture and affordability at the same time.” He said health systems, including Scripps, are still dealing with “the impacts of the pandemic, inflation in labor and supply costs, and a workforce that expects more from its employer.” At the same time, reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid “has not kept pace.” He added that Scripps expects “a decline in revenue of at least $100 million annually” from “the impacts of HR-1 (the Big Beautiful Bill) and the expiration of the ACA subsidies.”  

Van Gorder said Scripps is responding by investing in leadership development, physician engagement, internal career pipelines, employee well-being, and workplace safety. He said the system is also using its Scripps Management System to redesign operations “from the frontlines up.” 

The broader concern aligns with national workforce trend reports. The American Hospital Association’s 2026 Health Care Workforce Scan said six major pressures are shaping workforce strategy, including “financial stress that limits flexibility,” rapid technological change, changing worker expectations, and geographic disparities that threaten access.

Deloitte’s 2026 U.S. Health Care Outlook similarly found that healthcare leaders are operating amid “escalating financial pressures, persistent consumer challenges, and evolving regulatory requirements,” with 43% of surveyed executives saying they feel “uncertain” or “neutral” about the industry’s near-term outlook. 

For clinicians, the leadership warnings matter because instability in staffing and culture can translate into heavier workloads, more care team redesigns, and greater pressure to do more with fewer resources.