Healthcare organizations across the United States face mounting pressures as they enter 2026, with persistent staffing shortages, clinician burnout, rising labor costs, and the disruptive integration of artificial intelligence and automation threatening patient care quality and workforce stability. These interconnected challenges, if left unaddressed, could undermine employee well-being and the long-term resilience of the entire healthcare sector.
The 2026 People in Healthcare Summit, organized by HRO Today, provides a critical forum for human resources leaders to develop strategic responses to these systemic issues. The event brings together HR executives from healthcare organizations to share insights and innovations aimed at future-proofing the healthcare workforce. Participants will explore best practice approaches to cross-generational workforce integration and talent acquisition strategies in an increasingly competitive healthcare labor market.
This gathering represents more than just another industry conference—it addresses fundamental questions about how healthcare organizations can maintain quality patient care while supporting the professionals who deliver it. With healthcare workers experiencing unprecedented levels of burnout and staffing gaps affecting service delivery, the summit's focus on retention strategies and workforce resilience has direct implications for patient outcomes across the country.
The event format includes one-on-one interviews, presentations examining HR executives' roles in preparing organizations for digital transformation, and panel discussions featuring 14 expert speakers with backgrounds in healthcare senior HR leadership. For over a decade, HRO Today has recognized HR executives' achievements through its global events, and this summit continues that tradition by highlighting leaders who support frontline healthcare workers.
The summit's importance extends beyond individual organizations to the broader healthcare ecosystem. As noted in the event materials available at https://www.hrotoday.com/events/people-in-healthcare-summit/, healthcare HR leaders play a critical role in ensuring clinical staff remain engaged, resilient, and prepared to deliver improved patient outcomes. The strategies developed at this gathering could influence workforce policies and practices across the industry, potentially affecting how millions of healthcare professionals experience their work environments and how patients receive care.
In an era where technological disruption and workforce challenges intersect, the solutions discussed at the People in Healthcare Summit may determine whether healthcare organizations can adapt to changing conditions while maintaining their core mission of patient care. The event represents a coordinated effort to address systemic issues that individual organizations often struggle to solve independently, making its outcomes relevant to healthcare providers, employees, and patients nationwide.
