Personnel shortages ranked No. 1 on the list of hospital CEOs’ top concerns in 2021, replacing financial concerns—the top issue since 2004, according to ACHE’s annual survey of top issues confronting hospitals. This survey, sent in the fall to community hospital CEOs who are ACHE members, asked respondents to rank 11 issues affecting their hospitals in order of how pressing they are, and to identify specific concerns within each of those issues. The survey was sent to 1,327 community hospital CEOs, of whom 310, or 23%, responded. This year, respondents cited personnel shortages as their top concern, giving it an average rank of 1.6 on an 11-point scale, underscoring the workforce challenges seen during the pandemic. Financial challenges ranked second, with an average rank of 4.1. Patient safety and quality ranked third, with an average rank of 5.0.
ACHE thanks the CEOs who responded for their time, consideration, and service to their profession and to healthcare leadership research.
