The past few years of ballooning healthcare wages have hit hospitals and health systems hard but appear to be leveling off, reports Fierce Healthcare, citing a Fitch Ratings report. Citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data and conversations with its rated nonprofit systems, the report highlights three and four consecutive months of decelerating year-over-year hourly earnings growth for the hospital and ambulatory sub-sectors. For hospitals specifically, the measure has dropped from a pandemic high of 8.4% and a 2023 high of 5.15% to July’s 3.75%—all of which are still above the 2.3% average of the past decade, Fitch analysts wrote. Read more.
Fitch: Healthcare’s Runaway Labor Costs Slow Down, Allowing Hospitals to Ease off Contract Labor
