Health care firms struggle to retain workers

NEW YORK — Health care organizations, such as hospitals and clinics, have more difficulty keeping employees with critical skills than other industries, according to a new survey released Wednesday.

Sixty-nine percent of health care organizations report having moderate to great trouble retaining employees with critical skills compared with 43 percent of organizations across all industries, said the report by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a consulting firm, and The American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, a trade group.

Hale notes there are chronic shortages of employees, such as nurses and physical therapists, needed at hospitals and clinics, which aggravates the retention problem.

Employees nearly always have job opportunities elsewhere. For example, a pharmacist could work at a retailer instead of a hospital while a nurse could find employment at a health insurer.

Hospitals are high-stress environments, which explains why some workers would choose to leave, said Jamie Hale, practice leader for work force planning at Watson Wyatt.

The report is based on survey responses from 110 health organizations which employ a total of more than 500,000 full-time employees.