Burnout isn't just affecting clinicians. Here's how healthcare executives are feeling these days

Much has been written about how the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to widespread burnout among frontline healthcare professionals. But administrators – who often shouldered the brunt of the economic realities hitting the healthcare system – have been similarly struggling.

Many of the same trends now playing out among frontline workers – like the acceleration of retirements or the shift to contract work – are also happening in the corporate office.?

Hospital balance sheets have taken a beating over the past few years. During the early months of the pandemic, medical centers had to cancel lucrative elective procedures as a way to keep staff and patients safe. Patients also deferred care to avoid the virus. Meanwhile, labor and supply costs skyrocketed amid worker shortages, and health systems filled gaps in emergency departments and intensive care units with expensive contracts for travel nurses. Staffing shortages also have been rippling through post-acute care , leading to delays in discharging patients – without additional revenue for hospitals.??

Many clinicians have blamed administrators for the grueling work conditions they’ve endured. But a recent report suggests that the economic challenges also have taken a toll on healthcare executives as they’ve navigated increased budgetary pressure and unpredictability.?

As many as 74% of executives surveyed in the summer of 2022 told staffing firm WittKieffer that they had experienced burnout in the past six months – up from 60% in 2018. And 93% said burnout was negatively impacting their organization, up from 79% in 2018.

Moreover, about a third of respondents said they “often” or “always” think about leaving their jobs while 28% say they “often” or “always” consider leaving the healthcare industry.

“I think in many ways executives were getting burned out trying to Scotch tape and put Band-aids on different shifts,” said Rachel Polhemus , a senior partner at WittKieffer . “The overall psychological impact on executives — whether an organization was going through a layoff or not — weighed on many executives.”

By the end of last year, hospitals as a group had started to find their financial footing again, but it meant some tough decisions for the C-suite. The specter of layoffs, which have affected administrative positions more than clinical roles, has only added to the feelings of uncertainty and gloom.

Layoffs in the first quarter of 2023 were up 65% at healthcare companies, a group that includes hospitals, over the same period last period, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. , a firm that provides job search and career transition services.

For this week’s Path to Recovery, I chatted with Polhemus about the implications of widespread burnout and how it’s affecting career trajectories.?

The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

LinkedIn News: What prompted this report?

Polhemus: We [first looked at this issue] in 2018, at a time when burnout at the executive level wasn't really a discussion point, but it was something we were hearing and noticing a little bit in the marketplace. Coming out of COVID, we thought it would be really helpful for the industry to refresh this burnout study and get a sense for where executives are today.

LinkedIn News: What’s driving the burnout that executives are facing?

Polhemus: It's a variety of different issues, quite frankly. COVID obviously escalated it, but it wasn't just COVID itself, it was much more the aftereffects. COVID would hit, and you would see a spike in cases; it would impact the frontline. Then there was a process of figuring out: What does our workforce look like, where are we getting travelers? And this wasn't just with nursing, it was medical techs, it was environmental service workers, it was food services, it was all the different [functions] that support the patient and patient care. And then there were the cost pressures around reimbursement, and the cost pressures around finding travelers; it all started to escalate the burnout.?

As a search firm, what we started to see was executives reflecting, Am I at a point in time that I can make the decision to retire? We would start to see the uptick of retirement or [relocations to be closer to family.] From a career perspective, that may have been different if they hadn't experienced all the different challenges that they were having to juggle through COVID.

LinkedIn News: To what extent are executives who are changing jobs looking at entirely new career options?

Polhemus: We've seen some go into consulting or some doing interim assignments. They’re saying, “Instead of being in a permanent role, maybe I’ll retire from this position and just do six months of an interim, and then take a period of time off and have more balance in my life.”

LinkedIn News: It’s interesting to hear you say that. In our most recent Healthcare Special Report, we found an uptick in the number clinicians moving into contract work compared with pre-pandemic. And you’re seeing something similar for corporate roles.

Polhemus: I talked to one CEO who was planning to retire in maybe 18 months to two years and then saying on the flip side of that, “But I'm not ready to hang up my cleats quite yet. I need a break, but I'd be very interested in doing interim work.” Executives are saying, “As much as I'm burned out, I love what I do. I'm committed to the profession and I want to continue to contribute.”

LinkedIn News: There are a lot of clinicians, when I write about burnout, who will blame administrators for not improving working conditions. But what you’re saying is that administrators also felt equally powerless to make things better.

Polhemus: I wouldn't say powerless. I think it's that the industry itself is suffering; a lot of the topline executives were trying to look at what levers they could pull to ensure that the health system or hospital could be financially viable, and at the same time provide what the workforce needed. I think they just felt helpless, like they didn't have the ability [to change things] because this is an industry issue, not specific to one hospital or health system. It was much broader than that.

LinkedIn News: What do you see as the implications of these findings?

Polhemus: As an industry, we need to do better. How do we find ways to support executives? How do we help them understand what their career choices are? They need to know to put on their own oxygen mask first in order to support others. They [need to] take care of themselves and create their own strategies in order to be able to help support other executives and the executives below them and below them again.

LinkedIn News: How do they do that?

Polhemus: It’s knowing when it's OK to say, “I've had enough” and to take a break. That's a tough thing for these very successful executives to do.

I’ve interviewed a number of candidates this past year where, for instance, they all of a sudden in August left their position and now they're starting to look again. And I've asked, “What have you been doing since August?” And they said, “I was just really burned out and I needed to take a break.” And they've taken a break and are ready to reenter the workforce. As an industry we have to recognize that that's OK.?

In the tech industry, you see a lot of movement. In healthcare, you typically don't see that. And I think we need to rewire ourselves to know that if somebody has taken break, it's not a

reflection on their poor performance, but rather that they're taking care of themselves and their families.

LinkedIn: Beyond the shift to interim work, what are the other trends you’re seeing in your field?

Polhemus Given what we're seeing with burnout and given the movement we've seen in the marketplace, I think it's going to push organizations to talk more openly about succession planning. It’s going to be really important as an industry to have those conversations, and that there are plans in place so they can continue to prosper.