Big changes are coming to the healthcare industry. In the coming years, the hospital workforce will be younger and more predominantly female, and so more at risk for conflicts between work and families. Learn how dependent care programs help top healthcare providers avoid costly absences and support critical talent goals.

1. HOW TO SURVIVE
THE TALENT SHORTAGE
IN HEALTHCARE

2. Conflicts between work and family promise to be costly. Women
currently make up nearly half of the medical residents who will
be tomorrow’s doctors1
. And researchers writing in the Journal of
Graduate Medical Education called child care “a major stress factor,"
citing child care breakdowns within a major provider results in
the loss of a half-day per employee per year2
. Worse, the report
says conflicts between families and medical careers are pushing new
female doctors out the door, leading some to scale back to part-time
hours right after new careers have launched.
COSTS IN TURNOVER
AND ABSENTEEISM
43%of nurses turn over within the first three years4
25% of physicians quit within the first three years3
1 “The State of Women in Academic Medicine,” Association of American Medical Colleges, 2014
2 “The Case for On-Site Child Care in Residency Training and Afterward,” Rebecca A. Snyder, MD, MPH, Margaret J. Tarpley, MLS, Sharon E. Phillips, MSPH,
and Kyla P. Terhune, MD, Journal of Graduate Medical Education, September 2013
3 “Recruiting Physicians Today,” New England Journal of Medicine Career Center, January/February 2015
4 “Nurse Turnover: The Revolving Door in Nursing,” Laura A. Stokowski, RN, MS, Medscape. Dec 16, 2014

3. There is an additional reason healthcare
organizations should be concerned. Hospitals
are notoriously international communities,
with employees from around the country
and the world. But far from home means far
from family and without help when family
emergencies arise. “We have a lot of employees
who come from a lot of different countries…
they don’t have relatives or family supports in
the area,“ says the Manager of Work/Life &
Recognition at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center, calling the circumstance a driving factor
launching back-up care.
“We really need our people to be there. We’re a 24/7 operation. You can’t just
call in sick when you’re a nurse or a doctor” – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

4. It’s not surprising that data shows employees are staying in jobs to keep dependent care. And for the hospital,
the retention is invaluable. The exit of a single doctor costs an estimated $4,000 – $6,000 per day plus
replacement costs3
; nurses costs up to $60,000 each to replace5
. So strategies that keep these valuable
professionals are literally worth millions in prevented losses.
RETENTION POWER THAT’S WORTH MILLIONS
88% said child care made
them more likely to stay with
their organization
91% employees said child
care would be important in
considering a job change
15% have turned down a job
to keep child care —
the majority for higher pay
Among healthcare employees with child care at their organization6
:
3 “Recruiting Physicians Today,” New England Journal of Medicine Career Center, January/February 2015
5 “2016 National Healthcare Retention & RN Staffing Report,” Nursing Solutions, Inc., 2016
6 Lasting Impact of Employer-sponsored Child Care on Healthcare, 2013

5. The upshot is an industry that should feel urgency to act. The scramble for doctors, nurses, and other providers puts
power in employees’ hands; and the most desirable professionals are already gravitating to healthcare organizations
where their needs are met with child and elder care. That puts those without it at a disadvantage. As one prominent
Johns Hopkins doctor said to his administrators about child care, “You cannot afford not to have a center.”
BE A LEADER IN THE TALENT MARKET

6. GET THE FULL STORY
Contact us to learn more.
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To learn how top providers avoid costly
absences and support critical talent goals
download our eBook.
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