Ascension Wisconsin holding job fair to recruit while some criticize past layoffs

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – As one Wisconsin health care provider is hoping to recruit employees, some are criticizing the cuts and closures they have made in the past.

"As we know, due to the pandemic, we've had a mass reduction in health care workers across the country. Therefore, it left a huge shortage. Almost 2 million in 2023, jobs that are available," Daniel Wright said.

Wright is the Chief Nursing Officer for Ascension Wisconsin and tells CBS 58 that he loves his career and encourages others to join it. However, in recent years, interest has dwindled. The non-profit operates 17 hospital campuses and over 100 health care facilities in the state, and they need employees for all aspects of health care.

"Well, obviously, when you have shortages, you have to think about how to utilize resources differently, and in case, what we want to do is continue to provide high-quality compassionate care, and we do that by hiring the right people to fill those roles," Wright explained.

But others point to recent layoffs and closures by Ascension, including their decision to shut down the labor and delivery services at St. Francis Hospital in Dec. 2022.

"To some extent, the staffing crisis is manufactured," Wisconsin Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals Executive Director Jamie Lucas said.

"It's manufactured by corporate health care, by the 'Ascensions' of the world, because the business model has encouraged the hospitals to make everybody do more with less, and that's just not a sustainable approach to this. So, yeah, it's kind of ironic to end up in this situation."

Lucas is part of a statewide union that represents workers at St. Francis Hospital and said employees there witnessed layoffs before and after the pandemic.

"In a span of about three years, we lost about 50% of the workers in that hospital," he explained. "From our understanding that's just kind of the Ascension playbook."

However, Ascension Wisconsin said this shortage is a post-pandemic reality many hospitals around the country are facing.

"Ascension is always focused on doing the right thing for our community," Wright said. "So, we're always looking for people to be a part of our community, and as far as anything of that sort, what I will say is, we're always making sure that we have the right resources to care for the community."

Now, the health care group hopes people will consider a job in health care with them despite past layoffs and closures.

"I think there is always a fear of the unknown. What I will say is, across Wisconsin, we have purposefully put leaders in place so we can create the culture and the trust and the confidence and the competence not just in our caregivers but also the community that we provide care to," Wright said.

To share more about the job openings at six Ascension-operated hospitals in Wisconsin, they are holding a regional job fair on Wednesday. It will be from 4 to 7 p.m. at Third Street Market Hall in Downtown Milwaukee.