abstract
Future of Health Summit 2023

Caring for Our Caregivers: Burnout and the Health-Care Workforce

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The challenges of working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic have taken a toll on health-care workers, causing them to leave the profession in droves. Nearly one in five health-care workers left their jobs during the pandemic, leaving our health care infrastructure vulnerable as demand outpaces supply. The ongoing provider shortage will widen gaps in access, delay time to care, and increase costs, worsening outcomes and disparities, and hampering responses to public health crises. The economic burden is heavy: annual burnout turnover costs total $9 billion for nurses and up to $6.3 billion for physicians. This crisis touches every health-care worker—direct carers in homes, first responders, mental health providers, and primary and specialty practitioners—especially for the aging population and underserved communities. It’s time to start taking better care of our health-care workforce. What cultural, structural, and systemic changes are needed to support a healthy health-care workforce? How can stakeholders across sectors help prevent burnout and lessen the costs of a fragmented health-care system? 

    Moderator

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    Richard Lui

    Journalist, News Anchor, NBC News

    Speakers

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    Jesse Ehrenfeld

    President, American Medical Association
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    Robert Espinoza

    Executive Vice President of Policy, Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
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    Kevin Lynch

    CEO, President, and Founder, The Quell Foundation
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    Megan Ranney

    Dean, Yale School of Public Health