Healthcare’s Headwinds: Behind the Numbers

On Apr 1, 2026

Hospitals are the heartbeat of their communities – always open, always ready, delivering care, compassion and expertise when New Jersey residents need it most. Their impact reaches far beyond their walls: protecting community wellness, caring for our most vulnerable neighbors, fueling local economies, preparing for public health emergencies, training future caregivers and driving innovation that shapes the future of medicine.

This “by the numbers” snapshot highlights both the growing pressures facing New Jersey hospitals and the extraordinary impact they deliver every day. No matter how you measure it, New Jersey hospitals create health, strengthen communities and expand opportunity across our state.

15 Million

Healthcare is about people – most importantly, the 15 million patients that New Jersey hospitals care for annually. They’re served by 70 acute care hospitals, whose doors are open each hour of every day. That’s a cumulative total of an astounding 613,200 hours of hospital operations each year to ensure uninterrupted access to life-saving care.

As New Jersey’s healthcare system continues to shift toward population health, prevention and care delivered closer to home, the patients who do require hospitalization are arriving with more complex needs. A recent analysis of statewide patient discharge data by the New Jersey Hospital Association highlights just how quickly this change is unfolding:

• Patients are coming in sicker. Between 2016 and 2025, New Jersey hospitals saw a 56.4% increase in the share of inpatients classified with Major (3) or Extreme (4) severity of illness – rising from 30.5% to 47.1%. These scores reflect individuals who are managing serious conditions, loss of function or mobility and higher risks of complications or mortality. The bottom line: More patients arriving at hospitals today need intensive, highly coordinated care.
• More older adults are seeking hospital care. Over the same period, the proportion of hospitalized patients aged 65 and older grew by 16.2%, increasing from 38.7% in 2016 to 45.0% in 2025. This trend reflects New Jersey’s aging population and the growing number of older adults managing chronic illnesses while striving to stay well and independent in their communities.

162,000

Across New Jersey, hospitals employ 162,000 skilled and dedicated individuals who have chosen caring as a career. While the jobs market may experience peaks and valleys, hospitals remain a stalwart of employment and opportunity. The largest single component of hospital employment is nursing, with 43,589 jobs, based on 2023 data.

But while the demand for healthcare professionals remains high, the supply of workers is not keeping pace. According to analyses from the NJHA Workforce Data Center, New Jersey faces a gap of 80,000 healthcare workers by 2032 across all aspects of their operations – from clinical care to support services.

This challenge is exacerbated by two trends at both ends of the workforce pipeline: A surge of current workers reaching retirement age and an educational system that lacks capacity to fill their shoes. Nearly one-in-three current members of New Jersey’s healthcare workforce (29%) will reach retirement age by 2032 – many of them in clinical positions, according to NJHA’s workforce data. 

Meanwhile, the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing (NJCCN) reports a rising number of qualified applicants to nursing schools – many of whom cannot be admitted because of capacity limits. In 2023-24, the most recent data available, more than 13,000 prospective students were competing for just 7,780 slots. The NJCCN cites two key issues behind the capacity challenges: a lack of classroom space including labs and a lack of faculty. Investments are needed in both areas to keep clinical teams at the bedside and preserve access to care.

9

New Jersey hospitals rank in the upper echelon for healthcare quality – including high marks for their nursing teams which have earned a national reputation for exceptional patient care.

Just 33 hospitals across the US have received the coveted Magnet Award for nursing excellence six times or more – and nine of them are in New Jersey. No other state matches New Jersey’s longstanding performance on key nursing measures from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. It’s not the only national scorecard where New Jersey excels. 

Garden State hospitals consistently rank among the nation’s top 15% in patient safety, according to the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade which measures how safe hospitals keep their patients from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. In 2025, New Jersey ranked third best in the nation, with more than half of New Jersey facilities receiving an A grade for their exceptional care in this semi-annual assessment.

In another nod to top-quality care, New Jersey hospitals land at number 5 nationally in the latest healthcare rankings from U.S. News & World Repor t. And, in its listing of the top hospitals in the New York City region, 36% are actually right here in the Garden State.

$35 Billion

Hospitals bolster the state’s economy with nearly $35 billion in direct economic impacts. That includes 162,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in purchased services supporting other businesses, $12 billion in hospital employee salaries, and $664 million in state income taxes from hospital employees.

But the benefits don’t end there. When factoring in hospitals’ purchases of goods and services and their support of businesses large and small, multipliers formulated by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showcase the exponential impact of hospitals on New Jersey’s economic health:

• Each hospital job supports an additional 1.5 jobs in other sectors, turning 162,000 healthcare jobs into a total impact of about 398,000 jobs.
• Every dollar spent by a hospital generates $2.25 in economic output for a grand total of $78 billion in statewide economic benefits.

These findings come from the 2025 Economic Impact Report by the New Jersey Hospital Association, based on 2023 data from New Jersey’s 70 acute care hospitals. The report is available online at www.njha.com/economic-impact-report providing an interactive database where hospital impacts can be viewed by hospital, county, legislative district and more. 

20 Cents

Hospitals are anchors in their communities – extending their investments well beyond hospital walls into neighborhoods and social programs that meet local needs. This community impact totals $7 billion across New Jersey, representing 20 cents of every hospital dollar committed to community health in 2023 (the most recent year available).

This work is targeted and focused, shaped by community health needs assessments performed by hospitals to meet the most pressing local needs in the communities they serve. It’s also transparent, reported annually to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service by nonprofit hospitals.

These commitments from New Jersey’s hospitals include $4.6 billion in charity care and other patient care provided without compensation, along with $2.4 billion in local health improvement and community programming. These investments include:

• Helping residents improve their health and combating poverty by providing basic needs like housing assistance, healthy foods and transportation;
• Delivering health education and training for families and professionals;
• Donating the use of facilities for community organizations and providing in-kind contributions to municipalities;
• Volunteering in the community by organized hospital teams.

$3.3 Billion

In 2025, the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law – a seismic shift in healthcare delivery and funding with an unprecedented $1 trillion in cuts to critical health programs nationwide. 

NJHA projects that New Jersey will lose $3.3 billion in federal Medicaid funding, which threatens healthcare access for tens of thousands of New Jerseyans and a surging need for charity care.

The N.J. Department of Human Services anticipates 365,000 eligible New Jerseyans will be dropped from NJ FamilyCare, and countless other families will become “underinsured” as they sacrifice robust health insurance coverage in the search for a more affordable premium.

The impact of these losses have yet to hit. However, anticipated consequences include healthcare job losses, service cuts, emergency department overcrowding and the very real risk of hospital closures – jeopardizing access to care for everyone, not just Medicaid recipients.

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