For Immediate Release
Contact: Jennifer Hirt, jhirt@dcha.org, 202-682-1584

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – October 1, 2026 — As the nation recognizes Health Care Workforce Development Month, the DCHA Program Services Company, Inc. and the DC Health Care Workforce Partnership is pleased to announce the release of the 2026 Annual Health Care Occupations Report.  

The Partnership’s Annual Health Care Occupations Report serves as the Partnership’s annual assessment of the District’s health care workforce landscape. More than an inventory of occupations or a summary of workforce activities, this report examines the trends shaping health care employment, the occupations driving workforce demand, and the collaborative strategies being implemented to strengthen the health care talent pipeline across the district. 

The Partnership is an industry-driven, community- supported sector-based alliance consisting of education providers and businesses from acute care, ambulatory and behavioral health, and nursing, residential, and long-term care services. “The Partnership is building a talent pipeline specifically for the needs of employers, while the DC Health Care Employment & Apprenticeship Link (DC HEAL) program is guiding students through their journey of employment and education,” said DCHA President & CEO Jacqueline D. Bowens. “None of this progress would be possible without the extraordinary commitment of our health care businesses, public agencies, educational institutions, workforce partners, philanthropic organizations, and community stakeholders.” 

The report examines: 

• Where the workforce stands today—and where demand is headed through 2030. 

• The missing link between employment and education and what job readiness looks like today. 

• What we’re learning from DC HEAL and paid pathways into high-demand health care careers. 

• The full range of health care careers, from clinical roles to IT, administration, operations and patient support. 

• How individual workforce initiatives can become a connected system through stronger business, education, government and community partnerships. 

• Vision 2030 priorities, including AI-enabled care, expanded apprenticeships, and a stronger data-driven workforce ecosystem. After six years of collaboration, the Partnership is moving from individual programs toward a more coordinated workforce system one designed to connect residents to opportunity and employers to talent.

Highlights: May 2026 continues the overall data variations seen in early 2026, following the modest fluctuations reported for March and April. Observation admissions had shown the strongest growth earlier in the spring—up 6% in March 2026 and 8% in April 2026 compared to March 2025. However, May 2026 does not show any new spike or disruption, indicating a leveling after those increases. Ambulatory surgeries, which dipped 1% in March and rose 1% in April year‑over‑year, appear to have reduced slightly to -7% in May 2026 compared to March 2025. Psychiatric admissions, which increased 2% in March and then dropped 6% in April compared to 2025, have slightly dropped further to -3% in May 2026. Civil commitment admissions remained on the decline with -16% change in March and dropping even further to -19% in April 2026 compared to March 2025; nonetheless, they show a slight increase in volumes in May 2026 and now stand at -7%
below March 2025 volumes.

Save the date, October 21, for DCHA’s Health Care & Innovation Summit, our favorite, annual convening of health care professionals sharing best practices and successful approaches to improving patient safety. The summit will feature specialized and curated sessions on strategic issues and quality health care breakthroughs through diverse topics and shared ideas. Our experts represent a variety of backgrounds and perspectives based on hands-on experience and the latest research. Breakout sessions will feature submissions from the Abstract & Poster Competition and the summit will recognize the recipients of the Health Care & Innovation Awards.

Register before September 1 for the best early bird rate of $349 for individual ticket and $2,999 for a bundle of 10 tickets.

Keynote Speaker: Richard Bottner, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare
Compassionte Care: Managing the Emotional & Social Aspects of Patient Care

Sessions include (not a complete list):

• Eat, Sleep, Console in Maternal Health: Best Practices & Real-World Application
• Approaches for Health Care Leaders to Build Resilience and Performance for Staff
• Navigating the AI-Enabled Digital Frontier in Health Care
• RISE: Resilience in Stressful Events Program
• Patient Engagement and Leveraging Lived Experience to Improve Quality of Care: How to Navigate Through Cultural Challenges

The Abstract Competition and Poster Display is organized to encourage hospitals and health care providers to present their original work. All posters are welcome even if it’s your first time submitting, we encourage your participation. All winners of the Poster Competition will present their posters during a conference session, and all submissions will have their posters on display during the annual Health Care & Innovation Summit on October 21, 2026.

The competition emphasizes quality improvement methodology, provides a venue to share innovative and effective educational programs, showcase unique community projects, and encourages networking among peers with similar interests. Deadline for submissions is July 10, 2026.

Highlights: Comparing March 2026 to January 2026 utilization metrics, a considerable increase in volumes is noted for all focus metrics. Civil commitment admissions present the highest increase in volumes with a 25% increase in March compared to January, followed by observation admissions with a 20% jump in numbers. Psychiatric admissions and ambulatory surgery are tailing behind at a 14% and 13% increase respectively compared to January. Emergency department visits and acute care admissions present the smallest increase in volumes with 6% and 2% higher compared to January as shown in Fig. 1 below.