Tomah Health Human Resources Director Brenda Reinert is pleased with staff hiring and workforce development despite a Wisconsin hospital report that shows health care workforce is growing but struggling to keep pace with surging demand. “I’m happy with what we’re looking like right now, especially when we compare ourselves to our peers,” Reinert said following the recent release of the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s (WHA) 2026 Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report.
According to the report, Wisconsin’s health care workforce is growing but struggling to keep pace with surging demand driven by Wisconsin’s aging population and a shrinking labor pool. While hospital employment has increased 23 percent over the last decade, and vacancy rates have improved from a pandemic peak of 10 percent in 2022 to 7.2 percent in 2024, the report said these gains still leave Wisconsin hospitals with vacancy rates more than double pre-pandemic levels, and demographic trends suggest the pressure will only intensify.
“We’ve never really struggled with vacancy rates, we have typically been lower as compared to others’,” said Reinert. “Our vacancy rates run very low. During the COVID period we were around 5 percent, but ever since then, we’ve slowly dropped.”
Reinert said while others struggle to fill high demand positions, Tomah Health is looking to fill entry-level jobs. “While the labor pool is shrinking, we are only seeing some pockets where we struggle. While these pockets continue to surround historically hard to fill positions, we are now experiencing a shrinking labor pool for good quality candidates to fill our entry-level positions.”
She credited the hospital’s ‘Grow Your Own’ program for helping to turn the tide. “There are a lot of issues that do serve as barriers for healthcare institutions to attract and retain a valuable workforce. The key barrier that stands out to me is expanding accessible and achievable education and career pathways. This is where our ‘Grow Your Own’ initiative really comes into play.” She also singled out the hospital’s new surgical tech apprenticeship program that has helped with a historically hard to fill position.
Reinert said once staff join the organization, they typically stay for some time. “The culture we have built here definitely impacts our low turnover rate, our low vacancy rate, and our time to fill rate. While part of the culture is our benefits offering, the other part of our culture is flexibility that our departments have with staffing. It’s also the unique things that we do to show employees that they’re valued here at Tomah Health,” she said. “People like working here because they’re not just a number. They’re a person that we get to know. We get to know who their family is. Do they have kids? Do they have pets? We take the time to listen to people, and I think that speaks volumes.”
Wisconsin’s working-age population has been declining since 2010 and is projected to continue shrinking through 2050. “Wisconsin hospitals have made real progress in hiring and retention, but we’re in a race against time,” said Ann Zenk, WHA senior vice president of workforce and clinical practice. “Health care demand is projected to rise 10 percent by 2040 while our working-age population continues to shrink. We’re growing the workforce, but not fast enough to meet the needs of an aging population.”
Reinert said the case is just the opposite at Tomah Health. “Most institutions tend to age and get older but for the last few years, we have continued to get younger. Our median age used to be around 47 years, and our median age is now around 42. We’re hiring individuals that are just starting in their careers, or those that are young in their careers, who have decided that Tomah Health is a match with what they’re looking for.”
WHA’s 2026 report calls for immediate and sustained action across multiple fronts. Key recommendations include:
• Break down barriers to entering and remaining in the health care workforce. Reduce legal, regulatory and payer barriers that delay or deny care, ensure new requirements provide clear benefit relative to administrative burden and support workplace culture and workforce well-being.
• Expand accessible and achievable education and career pathways. Increase early career exposure, strengthen partnerships with technical colleges and universities, expand apprenticeships and employer-based training programs and increase funding for “Grow Our Own” initiatives.
• Support practice, policy and payment reforms that help teams reach their full potential. Encourage innovative care models supported by technology, including telehealth monitoring, recovery at home and hospital at home programs; identify opportunities to integrate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence; and update state law to support patient and family decision-making to relieve bottlenecks in post-acute care settings.
“Wisconsin’s hospitals and health systems are investing significant resources into our state’s healthcare workforce,” said Kyle O’Brien, WHA President and CEO. “At the same time, hospitals are faced with lagging reimbursement and growing red tape from government and private insurance companies, using precious human resources that should be used at the bedside rather than for unnecessary payer bureaucracy.”
Over her 29-year career with the organization, Reinert said she never would have believed that Tomah Health would be one of the top employers in Tomah with approximately 450 employees compared to 174 employees when she first started. “I think the public still thinks of us as that small hospital on the lake. I think they don’t understand the breadth and width of services that we offer here and the number of staff that’s required to run a hospital,” Reinert said. “Our employment numbers reflect our success. People look at Tomah Health and see it as a leader, a great employer in the Tomah area and say, ‘I want to work there’.”