Healthcare Hiring is Up According to New MHA Report

June 15, 2023

Minnesota hospitals and health systems have added nearly 14,000 healthcare workers over the last year, according to the Minnesota Hospital Association’s (MHA) 2023 Workforce Report, which was released June 12.  

Along with the all-time high for hiring direct patient care staff (since report year 2017,) the report also shows measurable improvements in increasing diversity of staff and declining turnover.  

Nevertheless, Minnesota’s healthcare workforce faces continued challenges. Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) reports more than 45,000 job vacancies in the healthcare sector. MHA’s Workforce Report found nearly 6,000 open positions just in hospitals and health systems – a 17% vacancy rate. 

“The daily hard work and focus of healthcare leaders on continuous recruitment, retention, and enhancing diversity is showing results with improvements noted in key metrics since last year’s report,” said Rahul Koranne, MD, president and CEO of MHA. “In order to ensure access to healthcare for current patients and for generations to come, this work needs sustained support from the state.” 

Key findings from the 2023 report include: 

Hiring and Exits: 

• Hiring reached an all-time high with the addition of 13,963 healthcare workers, including the hiring of 5,520 RNs, 560 physicians, and 7,883 other clinical staff, in report year 2023 – a year-over-year increase in all three categories.  

• In addition, since report year 2022, hiring for certified nursing assistants (CNAs) increased by 38% (2,014 hires), hiring for RNs increased 23% (5,520), and hiring is up 32% for medical assistants (719 hires).  

• Despite the increase in hiring for these jobs, there’s still a significant need for healthcare workforce. Several factors, including pay increases, enhanced recruitment and retention tactics, and a waning pandemic, have led to a 10% decrease in vacancy rates since the report year 2022. However, vacancy rates in report year 2023 remain high (17%): 

• Physicians 13% with 312 open full-time employees (FTEs) 

• Medical assistants 57% with 554 open FTEs 

• Other clinical staff 18% with 3,114 open FTEs 

• RN 17% with 2,532 open FTEs  

• CNAs 14% with 304 open FTEs 

• Exits among healthcare workers decreased from a high of 15,624 employees leaving in 2021 to 12,840 departing in 2022. (This data only captures employees who left a position; it is not a measurement of a career exit.) 

• Most of these exits occurred among FTEs, with 6,028 full-time workers departing in 2022.  

• 644 physicians left in 2022 compared to a high of 1,302 in 2021. 

• Fewer RNs left – 4,913 in 2022 compared to 5,451 in 2021. 

• 7,283 other clinical staff left in 2022 down from 8,871 in 2021. 

• Despite a high vacancy rate, Minnesota hospitals and health systems were able to add 1,123 more employees than exited. This is the first year since 2019 when hiring exceeded exit numbers.  

Diversity: 

• A continuing focus on ensuring healthcare staff mirror the communities they serve resulted in an increase of 6.5% in overall diversity among Minnesota healthcare employees from report year 2022 to report year 2023. 

• Minnesota’s hospitals and health systems have increased the number of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) representation in the healthcare workforce by 84% since report year 2017. 

• In addition to a 9% increase in the diversity of metro-area healthcare workers to 20% in report year 2023, non-metro (outside the 13-county metro area) diversity grew 14% in report year 2023, and 124% since report year 2019. 

• Job categories with the most diversity (employees who identify as BIPOC) are CNAs (41%), followed by rehabilitation registered nurses (36%) and nursing station technicians (34%). 

More employees opting for part-time employment: 

• Overall, 55% of Minnesota healthcare workers work full-time (32 or more hours per week), while 32% of healthcare workers are opting for a part-time schedule (between eight and 32 hours per week), and 13% are choosing a casual schedule (fewer than eight hours per week). 

• More than half (57%) of RNs do not work full-time, with a 7% increase in the number of RNs choosing a casual schedule in report year 2023 from report year 2022.  

• In addition, in report year 2023, there was a 10% increase in the number of physicians opting for a casual schedule. 72% of physicians work a full-time schedule.  

• There was a slight decrease (2%) in the number of other clinical staff opting for a part-time schedule, while there was a 7.5% increase in the number of other clinical staff working a casual schedule in 2023 versus 2022.