Four Crisis Issues Keeping Health Care Leaders Awake at Night

For most organizations, the question is when – not if – a crisis will occur. For health care organizations, however, the question is which crisis or issue will arise that day. Health care leaders face overlapping, business-critical issues, often needing to respond to the next issue before they have had time to recover from the last one.  

So how can health care organizations navigate this level of volatility without sacrificing patient trust, quality of care or organizational integrity? A strong response starts before disruption hits. Leaders need a clear view of the risks most likely to affect operations and patient care. 

Four of the top issues that deserve immediate attention include:  

1. Workforce shortages and burnout 

Health care systems may have moved beyond COVID-19 protocols, but their people are still recovering from the impact and burnout that continues to plague the industry. Emotional stress is the most common reason nurses leave their roles and studies show that more than 45% of physicians reported symptoms of burnout in recent years. 

Press Ganey’s Health Care Employee Experience 2025 research indicates national employee engagement continues to decline. Combined with a national shortage of clinicians, this has ripple effects on workforce retention, system capacity and patient access to care. Rural systems carry added pressure and may need to reduce services or close operations. 

Health care leaders can strengthen workforce resilience, employee engagement, and connection by building trust-based relationships — supported by clear communication about organizational performance and priorities, meaningful opportunities for feedback, and leaders who are equipped to connect with and develop their teams. 

2. Competing operational pressures  

Quality of care and access to services have become regularly disrupted by a wide range of operational issues including financial pressures, reimbursement uncertainty and workforce challenges. A recent survey found that 52% of health care leaders expect industry conditions to worsen as systems navigate operational challenges like rising costs, inadequate reimbursement, changing care patterns, workforce shortages, supply chain disruption and administrative complexity. 

These pressures overlap with other unexpected events and crisis situations, creating a state of “permacrisis,” where disruption becomes a long-term business condition. PwC’s Global Crisis and Resilience Survey found that 96% of organizations had experienced disruption during the previous two years, often significantly impacting operations.  

These disruptions can snowball without a defined process to inform key audiences how the organization is managing it and when they can expect further updates. Having a process in place to get critical information to stakeholders helps empower teams and build trust with patients. 

3. Cybersecurity risk 

Cybersecurity is an acute threat to health care systems. The sector experienced more ransomware attacks than any other critical infrastructure in 2025, with 460 reported attacks. Experts anticipate this wave of cybersecurity threats to continue, particularly with attacks on third-party technology and solutions and AI-generated audio and video deepfakes. 

Cybersecurity is directly linked to patient safety, making risk management and cybersecurity response protocols even more critical to protect health information and reduce organizational vulnerabilities. 

4. Public perception and misinformation 

Public trust in health agencies dropped sharply during the pandemic and still hasn’t fully recovered. At the same time, public opinion on health issues, policies and the role of public agencies has become increasingly divided. 

Misinformation deepens this divide. Patients now use AI tools to seek their own diagnoses and care, a trend that is particularly prominent in younger generations where nearly six in 10 regret at least one health decision made based on health misinformation from user-generated content or peers.  

AAMC recommends strategies health care systems and providers can use to combat misinformation and re-establish trust and become a reliable source for their communities, including:  

• Monitoring misinformation by asking family, friends, patients and neighbors what they’re hearing 

• Listening and trying to understand fears and other obstacles in a judgment-free space 

• Being transparent and acknowledging changes to guidance  

• Providing citations and evidence to support recommendations 

• Seeking to connect on a personal level 

Leaders that invest in strategies to get around misinformation are better prepared to communicate in an emergency with clarity and confidence.  

Protect your organization with a crisis and issues readiness plan 

Having an up-to-date and effective crisis response to these and other issues is critical to business continuity. Leaders must customize their plans to their organizations’ workforce, cybersecurity systems and stakeholder expectations. However, in our experience, crisis plans often sit on the shelf for years, meaning they no longer reflect the current needs, structure and pressures within an organization. 

Consider prioritizing a crisis communications audit to ensure your organization’s plans are ready. Beehive’s Crisis Communication Audit gives leaders a clear view of current readiness and identifies practical improvements by reviewing:  

• Current crisis readiness 

• Potential risks and vulnerabilities 

• Priority crisis scenarios 

• Potential processes and tools 

• Templates to support response 

• Opportunities to optimize existing plans