Utah's healthcare workforce shortage is a multi-layered crisis that goes well beyond raw headcounts, according to local leaders who gathered at an Axios roundtable in Salt Lake City. Experts pointed to low wages, limited career visibility, and a shrinking pool of experienced nurses available to train the next generation as the core drivers of the problem — issues that won't be solved simply by recruiting more people into the field.

A major structural concern is Utah's large share of low-paying healthcare jobs, fueled by a lack of unions and state support systems. Leaders warned that recruiting young workers into roles that don't offer a livable wage is a short-term fix at best. Meanwhile, a looming Medicaid funding shortfall threatens to divert resources away from addressing these critical gaps.

Key Takeaways:

• Career pathways in healthcare feel "out of reach" for many, requiring deliberate efforts to make them feel attainable
• Experienced nurse shortages are creating a training bottleneck — there aren't enough seasoned nurses to mentor new ones
• Better workforce data is urgently needed; as one leader put it, "There's a lot that we don't know about what's going on in the health care workforce"

Why it matters: As the post-COVID healthcare hiring boom cools, states like Utah face a compounding crisis where systemic underfunding and structural barriers could erode provider capacity for years to come.