Hospital employee vacancies are down in the state, but turnover has stayed steady, according to an annual workforce report from the Missouri Hospital Association.
The vacancy rate last year was 9.7%, down 4% from 2023, but employee turnover stayed the same at 22.2%. Vacancy peaked at 17% in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has declined each year since.
Jill Williams, vice president of workforce development for the association, said the organization has been ramping up recruitment efforts to get employment back to pre-pandemic levels. In September, it is planning a career event at St. Louis high schools.
She said individual hospitals also have been able to do more recruiting.
"Since the pandemic, hospitals have been able to get back out of the organization and into the community and talk to schools and talk to students in the classroom about the different careers in health care," Williams said.
The report found that medical imaging fields are struggling with high vacancy rates. CT, MRI and radiology technologist positions are all on the list of 10 highest employee vacancies statewide. But turnover is low in these fields.
"That does kind of suggest potentially a lack of interest and available candidates," Williams said.
This could be because many people aren't aware of the imaging career path, said Jessica Chambers, regional service line director of imaging at SSM Health.
"When you're a kid, you know nurses and doctors," Chambers said. "A lot of times, young people don't even know this is a career."
SSM partners with local high schools to raise awareness about these jobs, Chambers said.
Additionally, the hospital system has been in partnership with medical technology company Siemens Healthineers for two years. Chambers said the partnership helps fill imaging vacancies because the company cross-trains employees on multiple types of imaging.
Chambers emphasized the importance of medical imaging jobs.
"We're the unsung heroes," she said.
St. Louis' registered nurse vacancy rate of 6.8% is significantly lower than the statewide rate of 10.1%. St. Louis hospitals keep nurse employment up by partnering with local colleges and universities, Williams said.
One example of this is the upcoming Aspiring Nurses Program partnership between Chamberlain University and SSM Health. Chamberlain has locations in 20 states. Marcia Lysaght, SSM's regional vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer, said this makes it a great partner for SSM, which has locations in four states.
"We need to see more of these types of academic practice partnerships, because if we do that, I believe we will be on the way to addressing the nursing shortage that has plagued us for many years," Lysaght said.
Although St. Louis' RN vacancy rate is lower than the state average, Lysaght said it is still higher than the national average.
The program will launch in Oklahoma this fall and expand to St. Louis in November. Chamberlain students who participate in the program and commit to working at SSM Health during their schooling will have their student loans paid by SSM.
"Ensuring we have adequate nurses to meet the … increasingly complex needs of our patient population today is essential to promote high-quality care," Lysaght said.
Williams said that even though vacancies are down right now, her organization is continuing to work to lower vacancies even more and get the turnover rate down.
"We really have to continue to take this opportunity to recommit and support the development of the future health care workforce," Williams said.
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