A widespread shortage of nurses at Massachusetts hospitals is only getting more extreme, with an estimated 5,000 vacancies across the state and institutions hemorrhaging cash as they are forced to hire temporary staff at much higher rates.
In June, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association conducted a survey of 36 of the state’s 61 acute care hospitals. According to findings released this week, the vacancy rate for nurse positions has more than doubled since before the pandemic, growing from 6.4 percent in 2019 to 13.6 percent in 2022.
The severe staffing crunch presents a financial blow to hospitals, which have turned to temporary workers who often cost double that of an in-house staff member. According to a second survey conducted by MHA of 41 acute care hospitals, which combined have most of the staffed acute care beds in the state, hospitals spent $445 million on temporary staffing through the first six months of the fiscal year that ended March 31. That’s well more than the $328 million those hospitals spent in all of the previous fiscal year on temporary staffing.
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