Nashville has 25.7 open healthcare positions for every healthcare job seeker, more than 11 times the national rate. Could AI help ease the shortage, and how much will depend on training people to use the tools? A Healthcare Workforce Index from Covista, America's largest healthcare educator, examines both approaches.

• The Index is based on a model by Oliver Wyman, using 60 academic, government, industry and business data sets and studies.

Why it's important: Healthcare staffing shortages are putting pressure on patients and household budgets nationwide. Unfilled healthcare jobs cost U.S. families an estimated $430 annually, a figure that could reach $1,250 by 2040.

• Closing the national nursing shortage could save nearly 100,000 lives cumulatively by 2040, according to the Index.

Key numbers: Nashville's healthcare hiring gap is particularly pronounced, according to the 2026 Covista Care Capacity Monitor, fielded by Gallup.

• 74,062: Healthcare job openings posted across the Nashville metro area in 2025, two and a half times more than the average metro area.
• 25.7: Open healthcare positions for every healthcare job seeker, compared with 2.3 nationwide.
• 0.83%: Nashville's healthcare unemployment rate, compared with 1.7% nationally.

Statewide, Tennessee has one and a half times as many healthcare openings per job seeker as the nation overall (3.5 vs 2.3)

The AI lever: Covista's Index estimates that AI-driven productivity gains could close up to 37% of the projected national healthcare workforce shortage by 2040.

AI tools could reduce administrative workloads by summarizing patient visits and drafting referral orders. They could also flag patients who need follow-up care, creating more demand for healthcare.

The challenge: Adoption has been slow amid budget constraints and concerns about trust. Nearly a third of surveyed clinicians want more AI training, underscoring the importance of preparing healthcare workers to use emerging tools.

The strategy: Investing in the healthcare workforce could have an even greater impact by 2040, according to the index:

• 57%: The share of the projected national shortage that efforts to attract, train and retain healthcare workers could close.
• 92%: The share that could be closed if every modeled solution is pursued simultaneously, according to the Index.

"The future of healthcare capacity won't be built by technology or talent alone. It will be built by bringing the two together," says Michael Betz, Covista's chief growth and innovation officer.

How it's done: Chamberlain University, America's largest school of nursing and a Covista institution, is preparing to open its first Tennessee campus in Nashville in January 2027.

• Pre-licensure nursing classes begin Jan. 4, 2027, expanding opportunities for working adults and career changers to enter the profession.

Chamberlain students can also earn AI certificates developed for nursing in partnership with Google Cloud, helping prepare future clinicians to use technology in patient care.

• "Every community has people who want to become a nurse, and a healthcare system that needs more of them, including in Nashville. We're proud to add capacity to the region so more people in the Nashville area can become the nurses their neighbors are counting on," says Chamberlain University President Amelia Manning.

The details: The Nashville campus will offer:

• Day, evening and weekend classes, with a path to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in as few as three years.
• Rolling admissions up to six times annually.
• Hands-on training through an on-campus SIMCARE CENTER™ and clinical experiences with local healthcare partners.

The takeaway: Nashville's healthcare workforce challenge highlights the need to expand nursing education while preparing clinicians to use AI effectively.

Explore Covista's Healthcare Workforce Index further.