Special Reports: Understanding Healthcare Retention in Southeast Michigan
Overview
Turnover among healthcare workers in Southeast Michigan has reached a critical point, especially in allied health roles, exceeding both state and national averages. To better understand the factors driving this trend and to identify opportunities to strengthen retention, Michigan Health Council (MHC) undertook two interrelated research efforts in partnership with the Detroit Regional Workforce Partnership (DRWP).
The first includes a series of focus groups with current workers across major health systems to capture their firsthand experiences in the workplace. The second is a regional survey that gathers insights from individuals who recently left a healthcare position. Together, these studies provide a clearer picture of the challenges, motivations, and career pathways shaping today’s frontline healthcare workforce.
A Focus Group-Based Assessment
MHC collaborated with DRWP to conduct a series of focus groups to hear directly from the workforce about the challenges and opportunities they experience in their roles. The voices captured through these sessions reveal rich, textured insights into the systemic drivers of turnover and illuminate potential paths forward.
This report presents a thematic synthesis of findings from 13 focus groups conducted across four major health systems: Trinity Health, Henry Ford Health System, Corewell Health, and McLaren/Karmanos. Participants, drawn from clinical and non-clinical roles earning less than the Michigan median wage, offered detailed perspectives on organizational support, workplace culture, career development, and more. Their experiences, while diverse, collectively point to a shared need for deeper investment in retention infrastructure and cultural renewal.
Regional Healthcare Retention and Turnover Survey
MHC collaborated with DRWP to create, field, and analyze a survey designed to learn more from healthcare workers who recently departed a position about career pathways and retention factors.
Key findings from the workforce turnover survey include:
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86.5 percent of survey respondents voluntarily left their previous employer (meaning they either resigned, quit, or retired).
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The most highly ranked reasons for leaving were advancement opportunities, commute, and company culture/personal fit.
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13.5 percent left involuntarily (meaning they were let go or their position was eliminated).
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The three most common reasons were budget cuts or funding loss, organizational restructuring or downsizing, and contract ending or not being renewed. These reasons are largely out of the employees’ control and do not reflect their personal performance or actions.
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77.3 percent of respondents stayed in healthcare, but 22.7 percent of respondents have left the industry altogether.
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Of these, 20.0 percent now work in Information Technology, 13.1 percent work in Manufacturing, 12.6 percent work in Business, 12.6 percent work in Hospitality, 12.0 percent work in Education, 8.6 percent work in Food/Culinary Services, 8.0 percent work in Retail, 6.9 percent work in Agriculture, and the remainder work in another industry.
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