Pennsylvania may be short 20,000 nurses by 2026

Imagine nearly every seat in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center − over 20,000 seats − are empty. That’s the scale of Pennsylvania’s projected shortfall of registered nurses by 2026, according to the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.

Hospitals in the state report an average 14% vacancy rate for registered nurses. In rural areas it is much higher.

This shortage, of course, is not just in hospitals. It also affects long-term care facilities, outpatient…