The anesthesia workforce shortage has become one of the most persistent pressures on surgical care, and ASCs are feeling it on their balance sheets.
About two-thirds of ASC leaders consider anesthesia coverage among their top three financial challenges in 2026, and the anesthesiologist shortage is projected to more than double by 2031. Nearly two-thirds of anesthesia positions relied on locum tenens coverage in 2025, the highest reliance on temporary staffing among physician specialties.
But in recent weeks, health systems, universities and policymakers have made a string of moves that could widen the pipeline of certified registered nurse anesthetists and give facilities more flexibility in how they staff anesthesia:
1. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California Davis in Sacramento moved its first nurse anesthesia doctoral cohort into clinical training. The 16 students marked the move from classroom to operating room with a capping ceremony Sept. 22.
The school runs the first Doctor of Nursing Practice-Nurse Anesthesia program in the University of California system, and the sixth program of its kind in California. Each student must complete at least 2,000 clinical hours before graduating in June 2028, training at UC Health campuses and partner sites such as Adventist Health Ukiah, Plumas District Hospital and Oak Valley Hospital in Oakdale. Several of those are rural facilities where patients have limited access to anesthesia providers.
2. Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network launched a national recruitment and loan repayment program for CRNAs. AHN will provide qualified students up to $110,000 in employer-sponsored student loan repayment, paid out over their first three years of employment, if they commit to join the system upon graduation.
The program encourages CRNA students who will graduate within two years to apply and receive an employment commitment before graduation. To expand its reach, AHN partnered with Clasp, a national recruitment platform designed to match students with the system.
“Working with Clasp gives us the opportunity to engage CRNA students earlier in their training, help ease one of the biggest financial barriers of pursuing this career path, and build lasting relationships with clinicians who will be critical to AHN’s future workforce,” said Stacy Kittridge, vice president of human resources at Highmark and AHN.
3. Washington, D.C., opted out of the federal physician supervision requirement for CRNAs, becoming the 28th U.S. jurisdiction to do so. Mayor Muriel Bowser approved the opt-out under the Health Occupations Revision General Amendment Act of 2024, clearing the way for the DC Board of Medicine and DC Board of Nursing to implement the change. CRNAs practicing in the District can now administer anesthesia in hospital settings without physician supervision.
The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology and the DC Association of Nurse Anesthetists backed the change. AANA President Tracy Young, MSNA, MBA, CRNA, said removing the requirement gives healthcare facilities greater flexibility to use anesthesia care models.
4. Hospitals and universities are racing to build a CRNA pipeline that the healthcare system increasingly depends on, with new programs taking shape in Illinois and Ohio. Peoria, Ill.-based Methodist College is establishing a CRNA program to help address staffing shortages.
Meanwhile, the University of Toledo (Ohio) earned full accreditation for its Doctor of Nursing Practice in Nurse Anesthesia Program. The program continues the nurse anesthesia education previously offered at Sylvania, Ohio-based Lourdes University, which closed at the end of the 2025-26 academic year.
5. Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and St. Cloud, Minn.-based CentraCare partnered to expand the school’s Doctor of Nursing Practice in Nurse Anesthesiology. The two organizations launched a new location for the program in St. Cloud, creating one of the first programs in the state specifically designed to support rural healthcare needs.
The program pairs didactic instruction with hands-on clinical practice in West-Central Minnesota health systems, community hospitals and rural care environments. The rural focus targets a significant gap: More than 80% of rural counties lack an anesthesiologist, and CRNAs provide 80% of anesthesia care in rural areas with coverage, according to the Medicus report. Saint Mary’s has graduated more than 1,100 CRNAs since founding the program in 1952.
“By educating the next generation of nurse anesthetists in Central Minnesota, we are not only expanding access to doctoral nurse anesthesia education — we are investing in the future of anesthesia care for Minnesotans and ensuring that this remarkable tradition of service continues for generations to come,” Leah Gordon, DNP, program director at Saint Mary’s, said in an Aug. 31 news release from CentraCare.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.
