Healthcare leaders are solving the anesthesia shortage the wrong way—and it’s costing more than they realize.

Across the country, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers are increasingly relying on national anesthesia companies and traveling 1099 providers to maintain coverage. On paper, the model works: shifts are filled, operating rooms stay open, and surgical volume continues.

But what appears to be a solution is accelerating a structural problem.

We are turning anesthesia into a commodity—and in doing so, we are destabilizing the perioperative system.

Today’s market is driven by escalating compensation and mobility. Contract anesthesia providers are frequently earning $230–$280 per hour, often paired with significant bonuses and lifestyle-driven schedules such as 26 weeks on, 26 weeks off. These arrangements are understandably attractive to clinicians—but they also incentivize constant movement between facilities.

Hospitals are left competing in a bidding environment where coverage goes to the highest payer, not the most aligned partner.

This is not a workforce solution. It is a market distortion.

The broader workforce data reinforces the challenge. The U.S. is projected to face a shortage of approximately 12,500 CRNAs by 2033, while demand for anesthesia services continues to grow rapidly with procedural expansion and an aging population . At the same time, declining reimbursement and rising labor costs are forcing hospitals into increasingly aggressive compensation strategies to secure coverage .

When anesthesia becomes transactional, alignment disappears. Temporary providers deliver necessary care, but they are not positioned—or expected—to build systems. They are not accountable for long-term operational performance, OR efficiency, or team integration.

Yet this model is increasingly treated as a default strategy.

The result is a revolving-door workforce that undermines continuity, weakens team cohesion, and shifts leadership focus away from system improvement and toward constant staffing management. Industry leaders have already warned that this dynamic is creating an “arms race” in anesthesia compensation, driving costs higher without improving efficiency .

At the same time, millions of dollars in labor costs leave local communities as transient providers take earnings back to their home markets.

We are exporting value while importing instability.

Healthcare executives should ask a simple but critical question: Are we building a perioperative system—or renting one?

Because that is what the current model represents. Hospitals are renting anesthesia coverage at an increasing premium, with diminishing returns in performance, stability, and alignment.

There is a better path—but it requires a shift in mindset.

Anesthesia must be repositioned as a strategic partner, not a commodity. High-performing models are built on consistent staffing, local or regional alignment, and shared accountability for outcomes. These teams are integrated into the fabric of the organization—working alongside surgeons, nursing leadership, and administration to improve efficiency, reduce delays, and support growth.

In these environments, anesthesia is not reacting to the system—it is helping lead it.

Organizations that make this shift will separate themselves quickly. They will move beyond reactive staffing cycles and build durable perioperative teams that drive both clinical and financial performance.

Those that do not will remain trapped in an expensive loop—paying more each year for less continuity, less alignment, and less control.

The anesthesia shortage is real. But the way we are responding to it is a choice.

And right now, too many organizations are choosing short-term convenience over long-term sustainability.

That choice is costing more than coverage—it is costing the future of perioperative care.

What CEOs Should Do Next

• Audit your anesthesia model: Quantify reliance on locum or 1099 labor vs. stable teams

• Shift from staffing to strategy: Treat anesthesia as a driver of OR performance

• Prioritize alignment over availability: Seek long-term partners, not short-term fixes

• Stabilize your workforce: Reduce dependence on revolving providers

• Measure operational impact: Track OR utilization, turnover times, and delays—not just coverage

Brian Fleeman, DNAP, NSPM-C, APRN, CRNA, is President of Salt City Anesthesia, a Kansas-based anesthesia group focused on building stable, high-performing perioperative teams through long-term alignment with hospitals and surgical centers.

The post We Are Breaking Anesthesia — And Calling It a Staffing Solution appeared first on Becker's Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.