WisBusiness: the Podcast with Ann Zenk, Wisconsin Hospital Association

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Ann Zenk, senior vice president of workforce and clinical practice for the Wisconsin Hospital Association. 

She provides insights on the group’s latest health care workforce report, touching on demographic trends driving labor challenges, as well as the influence of COVID-19 and other factors. 

Zenk highlights the “sudden and drastic increases in open jobs and vacancy rates” at hospitals and health systems in the state between 2020 and 2021. 

“We follow 17 professions in our annual workforce survey, that’s the basis for our report,” she said. “And vacancy rates were increased for all of those 17, and in fact when we look at overall vacancy rate, it nearly doubled from 5.3 percent to 9.9 percent.” 

She also discusses the state’s nursing shortage, the difficulties that hospitals are having with finding post-acute care options for patients, the ripple effects of supply chain disruptions and demographic changes. 

“We have to grow workforce faster, but it’s unlikely that the health care workforce can grow fast enough to keep up with increasing demand,” she said. “So we also have to increase the capacity of that workforce, and make sure that that workforce is well taken care of, well supported, not burdened by overregulation.” 

Looking ahead, she says health care providers will need to continue leveraging technology to improve efficiency and reduce the burden on the workforce.

Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison: