Healthcare leaders aren’t just managing a staffing shortage in 2026. They’re managing a compounding workforce crisis—where burnout fuels turnover, turnover drives premium labor spend, and premium spend erodes already-fragile margins. The most dangerous part? Many organizations can feel it happening, but still can’t see it clearly enough to fix it.
Labor remains the largest lever on a health system P&L. The American Hospital Association reports that total compensation accounts for 56% of hospital costs, and that advertised RN salaries have risen 26.6% faster than inflation in recent years. This isn’t “bad budgeting.” It’s the reality of keeping units staffed while reimbursement tightens and expenses climb—exactly the financial squeeze healthcare organizations are being warned about heading into 2026.
At the same time, hiring more people isn’t a simple release valve. Altarum mentioned that healthcare is projected to add 1.6 million new jobs by 2033, more than any other industry—meaning competition for talent stays intense
Turnover is often treated like an HR metric. In reality, it’s a cost multiplier that shows up everywhere: traveler reliance, overtime, orientation costs, lost productivity, and clinical strain on the teams that remain.
Press Ganey’s 2025 employee experience reporting shows turnover improved from 20% to 18%, but also warns that disengaged employees are 1.7x more likely to leave—and engagement is slipping. In other words: the “improvement” is fragile, and the risk of reversal is real.
Add safety and stress on top, and you get a retention cliff. CDC reporting highlights that while healthcare workers are about 10% of the workforce, they experience 48% of nonfatal workplace violence injuries, with injury rates more than triple the all-industry average. When people don’t feel safe—or supported—burnout accelerates.
Many systems still run contingent labor and staffing operations across disconnected tools, spreadsheets, agencies, and inbox workflows. That fragmentation creates three problems:
This is where the workforce crisis becomes “hidden.” Leaders see the symptoms—overtime spikes, traveler creep, churn—but lack the integrated view to pinpoint root causes and act early.
Ringo helps healthcare organizations move from reactive staffing to workforce optimization by centralizing and simplifying how contingent labor is managed.
With Ringo, teams can:
The goal isn’t just to “fill shifts.” It’s to protect your people and your margins—at the same time.
If labor is your biggest expense—and burnout is your biggest threat—are you managing workforce strategy with the same discipline you apply to revenue, safety, and risk?
Schedule a complimentary 15-minute demo with Ringo to see how leading healthcare organizations are gaining workforce transparency, reducing contingent labor waste, and building a more sustainable staffing model for 2026.