Corwell Health made improvements in the second half to reduce reliance on high-cost travel nursing agencies to meet staffing shortages, he said, noting health systems also gained in productivity and significant staffing levels. Corewell Health has approximately 7,000 open positions across the state.
Cox said the health system still uses temporary nurses to close the gap even as the pandemic is contained and has attracted longer-term talent.
“Things certainly haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, but they are moving in the right direction,” he said.
To address the nursing shortage, Corewell Health last spring $19 million committed Towards increasing the talent pipeline for nurses pursuing their degree at Grand Valley State University. Under the Scholars Program, the health system at GVSU Kirkhoff College of Nursing is supporting an additional 500 students over six years.
Cox said, in forming the partnership with GVSU, Corwell “came up with a solution that’s going to help provide more nurses in Michigan.”
Priority Health had $5.88 billion in premium revenue in 2022 and $56 million in operating income with a margin of 0.9 percent.
Cox noted in the financial statement that Priority Health’s operating income for 2022 was $77.6 million less than originally planned. Medical claims trends for Priority Health “were high during the first quarter related to the COVID-19 increase, improved in the second and third quarters, and increased again in the fourth quarter due to respiratory illness and influenza,” Cox reports. Wrote in Pharmacy trends were even higher for Medicare members, he said.