H2 STAFFING • HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE INTELLIGENCE
How Much Is an Unfilled Healthcare Leadership Position Really Costing Your Organization?
Salary is only one part of the cost. Use the H2 Staffing Recruitment ROI Calculator to model vacancy duration, internal recruiting time, coverage expenses, sourcing costs and the potential economic effect of filling a critical healthcare leadership role sooner.
Free to use • No registration required for your on-screen results • Your inputs stay in your browser unless you choose to contact H2 Staffing.
A vacancy has a clock attached to it.
When a leadership position remains open, the economic impact can extend beyond the vacant salary line. Organizations may absorb recruiting labor, executive interview time, job advertising, overtime or coverage expenses, interim leadership costs and measurable operational effects.
This calculator does not assume that every vacancy creates every cost. You choose which costs apply to your organization, and the model shows the math behind the result.
INTERACTIVE TOOL
Healthcare Recruitment ROI Calculator
Enter the assumptions you know. Leave optional fields at zero if they do not apply.
TRANSPARENT BY DESIGN
How the model works
01
Your inputs
The model starts with the position, timeline and costs you provide. Optional economic-impact fields remain at zero unless you choose to use them.
02
Time-sensitive costs
Coverage, interim and operational-impact costs are converted to a daily amount based on the current vacancy and projected across each scenario.
03
Scenario comparison
The model compares forward-looking costs from today: the additional time-sensitive cost of continuing internally versus the professional-search scenario, including the search investment you enter. Costs already incurred are shown as context rather than counted again in the decision comparison.
Core calculation
Estimated economic benefit = Internal-search scenario cost − Professional-search scenario cost
Estimated ROI = (Estimated economic benefit ÷ Search investment) × 100
Salary itself is not automatically treated as a vacancy “loss.” This avoids implying that every dollar of compensation represents lost economic value while a position is open.
Designed for difficult-to-fill healthcare leadership searches
The framework can be used for executive, clinical and operational leadership positions where vacancy duration and internal recruiting effort can have measurable consequences.
2026 WORKFORCE CONTEXT
Current healthcare recruiting benchmarks
These figures provide context for the recruiting environment. They are not automatically inserted into your ROI calculation.
$123,860
Median annual pay
U.S. medical and health services managers, May 2025. BLS also reports a $133,580 median for this occupation in hospitals.
24%
Projected growth
BLS projects medical and health services manager employment to grow 24% from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,300 openings per year.
78 days
Average RN time-to-fill
NSI’s 2026 hospital survey reports a 78-day average RN time-to-fill, an 8.6% RN vacancy rate and 17.6% staff RN turnover.
Why we do not use a generic “cost of vacancy” multiplier
Healthcare organizations differ too much for a single salary multiplier to be credible. H2 Staffing’s model uses costs the organization can identify and defend. Published workforce benchmarks provide context; your own inputs drive the financial result.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Medical and Health Services Managers (2026 update); NSI Nursing Solutions, 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report; American Hospital Association, Costs of Caring: Challenges Facing America’s Hospitals as They Care for Patients in 2026; SHRM, The State of Recruiting 2025.
BLS • NSI 2026 Report • American Hospital Association • SHRM
H2 STAFFING RESEARCH
The Economics of Healthcare Recruitment: The 2026 H2 Staffing ROI Study
The full study explains the methodology behind the calculator, current workforce benchmarks, illustrative healthcare leadership scenarios, limitations and decision questions for healthcare leaders.
The complete 2026 H2 Staffing ROI Study is available now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this calculator promise that H2 Staffing will fill a position faster?
No. The professional-search timeline is an assumption entered by the user for scenario planning. Actual search timelines depend on the role, market, compensation, geography, requirements and hiring process.
Why doesn’t the calculator automatically count salary as the cost of a vacancy?
Because salary is compensation that may not be paid while a role is vacant; it is not automatically an economic loss. The model instead focuses on identifiable recruiting, coverage, interim and user-entered operational costs.
What should I enter for operational impact?
Only enter an amount your organization can reasonably support, such as a documented daily effect on capacity, revenue, throughput or another measurable outcome. If you do not know, leave it at zero.
Is my information sent to H2 Staffing?
The on-page calculator runs in your browser. The calculator itself does not require your name or email. If you choose to start a search, you will be taken to H2 Staffing’s employer inquiry process.