Massachusetts hospitals spent $1.3 billion more on temporary staffing in fiscal 2022 than they did in pre-pandemic times, according to a March 13 Commonwealth Magazine report.
While the total for such expenditure was approximately $204 million in fiscal 2019, that number soared to $1.5 billion in fiscal 2022, with 77 percent of that spent on temporary nurses, the report said, citing the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association.
"Any state effort to analyze and constrain healthcare cost growth must recognize this dramatic workforce shift now occurring," MHA President and CEO Steve Walsh told the publication. "This is a trend that demands our collective policy focus."
In a separate report, healthcare spending in the state rose 9 percent in 2021 to total $67.9 billion with per capita spending of $9,715.
Per-resident health expenditures increased at an annualized rate of 3.2 percent in the period 2019-2021, according to data from a March 2023 report from the Center for Health Information and Analysis.