The Summer Staffing Crunch: Strategies for Managing Shortages

Jul 9

How Physicians Can Stay Clinically Focused While Navigating Seasonal Workforce Gaps

As temperatures rise, so does the pressure in healthcare practices across Florida—and the culprit isn’t just humidity or heat stroke. It’s the annual summer staffing crunch. Whether you’re in a large hospital, group practice, or running a lean private clinic, chances are you’re already feeling the pinch: nurses on vacation, front office staff calling out, medical assistants juggling double duty, and the always-fun "Who’s covering for Dr. So-and-So?" roulette.

Physician burnout doesn’t take a summer break—and neither do your patients. So how do you keep care consistent, your team functional, and your schedule from imploding between June and August?

Let’s explore practical, physician-centered strategies to survive (and maybe even thrive) during the seasonal staffing slump.

1. Anticipate the Exodus Before It Happens

Staff don’t just disappear overnight—most submit PTO requests months in advance. So why are we always caught off guard?

What to do:

Conduct a summer staffing forecast in the spring. Look at scheduled time off across departments and identify potential pain points.
Use simple color-coded absence calendars visible to leadership to coordinate coverage and avoid overlapping critical absences.
Cross-train where possible before June hits. If your front desk person goes out and no one knows how to verify insurance… cue chaos.

2. Tap Into Float Pools and PRNs Early

Per diem and temporary staff become highly sought after in the summer, especially for RNs, LPNs, and medical assistants. If you wait until June to start recruiting, you’ll be competing with hospitals and urgent cares that pay more and move faster.

Pro tip:
Work with staffing agencies or your health system’s internal float pool in April or May, not mid-July. And if you’re an independent practice, consider building your own small "bench" of on-call PRNs you can tap as needed.

3. Leverage Telehealth and Asynchronous Tools

When clinical and admin staff are thin, leveraging technology can buy back valuable time.

Use telehealth triage to handle minor follow-ups, med refills, or chronic disease check-ins that don’t require in-person visits.
Implement asynchronous communication platforms (like secure messaging or patient portals) for routine patient inquiries. These can be batched and addressed during lower-staffed hours.

Just make sure your tech doesn’t become another burden—delegate these workflows to designated staff or set boundaries on response times.

4. Streamline (or Freeze) Non-Essential Services

Summer is not the time to launch that new aesthetics line or wellness pilot. During peak staffing shortages, practices should prioritize core clinical services and temporarily scale back offerings that aren’t essential.

Also consider:

Reducing the frequency of certain low-urgency appointments.
Delaying optional in-house trainings until fall.
Consolidating hours to maximize productivity and avoid under-staffed gaps.

5. Retain Through Flexibility, Not Just Compensation

Throwing money at the problem helps—if you have it—but for many practices, offering flexible schedules, compressed workweeks, or partial remote options for admin staff can go a long way in retaining workers who feel overwhelmed or burned out.

Think:

Can your billing team work from home two days a week?
Could your medical assistant work four 10s during the summer?
Can you offer half-day Fridays as a retention perk?

Creative scheduling may help you avoid losing someone entirely.

6. Don’t Ignore Physician Workload

In the chaos of staff shortages, physicians often pick up the slack—and that’s a direct line to burnout.

Delegate what you can: paperwork, prior auths, inbox management.
Protect your clinical schedule boundaries, even if it means seeing a few less patients per day to maintain quality.
Use scribes or voice-to-text tools to reduce documentation overload.

You're not being dramatic—you're being clinically responsible. Running on empty helps no one.

7. Communicate Transparently with Patients

If wait times are longer or staff seem stretched, patients will notice. Rather than letting frustration build, be proactive.

Use signage, portal messages, or front desk scripts like:

“During the summer months, we may experience slightly longer wait times due to seasonal staffing levels. We appreciate your patience and are working hard to provide the best care possible.”

Transparency builds goodwill—and buys you grace.

Final Thought: Plan Like It's Flu Season

Summer staffing shortages are as predictable as July thunderstorms. With the right planning and adaptive strategies, they don’t have to derail your clinical operations or morale. Just like flu season prep, summer needs its own playbook. Pull it out in April, review in May, and by June, you’ll be ready to handle the heat—with or without your full team.

Bottom Line:
The summer staffing crunch is real—but manageable. With foresight, flexibility, and a dash of creative scheduling, Florida physicians can keep care flowing smoothly even when half the team is on a beach somewhere. You just might avoid burnout… and that 7 PM charting session.