Why The Tomorrow Foundation
The future of healthcare depends on who we prepare today.
Healthcare is facing a workforce challenge that reaches far beyond hospital walls — and it will not be solved after the positions fall vacant.
The scale of it
The shortage is arriving before the workforce does
Across the United States, healthcare organisations are confronting workforce shortages, professional burnout, unequal access to care, and persistent difficulty recruiting and retaining professionals in rural and underserved communities. Globally, the challenge is greater still.
Closer to home, the United States is projected to fall short across every tier of the clinical workforce — not only physicians.
The figures below are drawn directly from federal workforce projections and are updated here whenever new data is published.
Projected United States shortages by 2038
Full-time equivalent positionsAnd geography matters
Where you are born still decides who cares for you
Physician supply as a share of need, 2038
Supply ÷ demandThe workforce we have
Adding people is only half of it. The other half is keeping them.
Increasing the number of healthcare professionals is only part of the solution. We must also support the people already caring for our communities.
More than two in five. The rate has fallen for three consecutive years — real progress, driven by real investment in clinician wellbeing — and it is still two in five.
Burnout, workforce shortages, inadequate professional support and unequal distribution create a cycle that affects providers, students, patients, healthcare organisations and entire communities.
The healthcare workforce crisis cannot be solved only after positions become vacant. We must build the workforce before the shortage reaches the bedside.
That’s why TTF exists
We build supported pathways into healthcare careers
The Tomorrow Foundation brings together education, healthcare, workforce development, mentorship, wellness, philanthropy and community partnerships to help students, veterans and underserved communities move forward — one stage at a time.
Four interconnected areas
How the work is organised
Healthcare Workforce Development
Building stronger pathways into healthcare careers and connecting emerging professionals with education, mentorship, clinical experience, employers and career opportunities.
Student Success & Educational Navigation
Helping students understand where they can go, what it takes to get there, and who can help them along the journey.
Veteran Success Navigation
Helping veterans translate military experience, leadership and transferable skills into education and meaningful healthcare career opportunities.
Wellness & Leadership
Developing healthcare professionals who understand that sustaining the workforce also requires supporting the wellbeing, resilience and leadership of the people providing care.
From shortage to opportunity
Healthcare’s future cannot be built by healthcare systems alone
It will require universities, schools, healthcare organisations, employers, workforce agencies, veterans organisations, community partners, mentors, donors, foundations, corporations and students working together. The Tomorrow Foundation exists to help connect those pieces.
Because the answer to a healthcare workforce shortage is not simply filling vacancies. It is building people. Building pathways. Building healthier professionals. Building stronger communities. And building a healthcare workforce prepared to lead tomorrow.
Sources
Every figure on this page, and where it comes from
We publish our sources because the argument only works if the numbers hold. Each is updated as new workforce data is released.