The Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) share price is suffering today amid a broader market sell-off.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that the private hospital operator has its sights set on a hiring spree, bringing in graduate nurses to fight against a COVID-19-exacerbated shortage.
At the time of writing, the Ramsay Health Care share price is $67.58, 5.76% lower than its previous close.
For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has slumped 2.78% today, while the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is down 2.83%.
Let's take a closer look at Ramsay's apparent plan to staff its hospitals through yet another COVID-19 outbreak.
Ramsay share price slides amid planned hiring spree
According to reporting by The Australian, Ramsay is planning to onboard its highest intake of graduate nurses to battle a shortage of staff made worse by the pandemic.
It expects to employ 550 new graduates – 25% more than it did during 2021.
Previous research by the federal government – conducted in 2014 – forecasts a shortfall of 85,000 nurses by 2025 and 123,000 by 2030.
On top of that, CEO of Ramsay's Australian operations, Carmel Monaghan was quoted as saying that the pandemic has worsened the shortage:
Like all industries, we see the workforce as our most significant challenge for the next few years. Supply has been constrained with borders closed and staff furloughed due to COVID.
Monaghan also stated that some nurses refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, further exacerbating the shortage.
The Australian noted a shortage of nurses may block the company's hospitals from bouncing back to their full elective surgery capacity.
Elective surgeries are a major income source for Ramsay's private hospitals. In its results for financial year 2021, Ramsay reported that a 90-day restriction on elective surgeries in Victoria had a $70 million impact on the company's earnings before interest and tax.
Similar restrictions were put in place in New South Wales over the first half of financial year 2022 and were one reason behind a 39.5% fall in the company's unaudited net profit after tax for the first quarter of financial year 2022.
Thus, it likely goes without saying that the market will be watching the Ramsay Health Care share price when it releases its results for the first half of financial year 2022.
Monaghan reportedly told The Australian that the company has already received expressions of interest from 500 graduate nurses.
