ASCs are facing mounting workforce strain as hospitals continue to outpay them for nurses and surgical staff, a gap that leaders say is widening alongside rising living costs and burnout concerns.
Kayla Schneeweiss-Keene, administrator of Houston-based Mann Eye Institute, told Becker’s the organization’s biggest workforce challenge is keeping up with hospital pay rates, particularly as a single-specialty ophthalmology ASC, which sits lower on the reimbursement totem pole than higher-paid specialties such as cardiology or orthopedics.
“It’s hard to keep pace financially and give them hourly rates that the nurses are asking for,” she said. “And it’s hard to keep people because they’re obviously wanting more money.”
Other ASCs are experiencing similar pressures, especially as cost-of-living increases make staff less willing to accept lower compensation in exchange for work-life balance or other perks.
Sarah Malaniak, administrator of New York City-based Peakpoint Flatiron Surgery Center, told Becker’s that hospitals often outbid ASCs for talent, fueling turnover and increasing recruitment expenses.
To attract and retain skilled professionals, she said, ASCs must offer competitive wages, signing bonuses and enhanced benefits, costs many centers, particularly smaller ones, cannot sustainably absorb. The need to address burnout and improve work-life balance has only added to the strain.
“The most significant financial challenge is keeping up with the labor market,” Michael Cournyea, CEO of University at Buffalo (N.Y.) Neurosurgery, told Becker’s. “Most ASCs are competing with hospitals and health systems for RNs and surgical techs, and this is driving up the costs for these positions”
Unlike hospitals, ASCs also operate with leaner staffing models, relying on tightly coordinated teams to manage high patient throughput in short timeframes, Sean Gipson, division CEO and president of Dallas-based Remedy Surgery Centers, told Becker’s.
“Every role, from OR nurses and surgical technologists to CRNAs and front office personnel, is essential to the patient experience and surgical outcome,” he said. “When even one position is vacant or under-resourced, the entire operation feels the impact.”
One staffing strategy Mann Eye Institute has leaned on is maintaining a strong work culture, Ms. Schneeweiss-Keene said.
“I tell all my leaders that their number one job is to make sure the culture is good at their center,” she said. “And that’s been huge because we’ve had many people leave and come back over the years because they realize that the grass is not greener on the other side.”
That culture starts at the top, she said, with owner Mike Mann, MD, and CEO Dana Ondrias.
“Our doctors are down to earth,” she said. “Dr. Mann is a huge contributor to just the culture of the company. He pushes me. Whenever somebody compliments him and tells him that he has a great team, he says, ‘Well, I’m only great because I have a great team.’ He always puts the onus back on his team, and he always gives praise to everybody else.”
That mindset keeps staff invested and often draws employees back even after they leave, she said. She added that it also helps when surgeons and board leaders allow administrators to run the center without constant interference.
According to Mr. Gipson, progressive ASCs are also addressing staffing shortages through “creative staffing models, cross-training programs, stronger employee engagement strategies and partnerships with local nursing schools.”
