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It’s often said that the success of any organization comes down to the strength of its leadership. In healthcare, administrative, clinical, and quality leaders do more than just manage budgets and oversee operations. They shape the very environments that ensure patients receive the highest-quality care.
And while much has been made of frontline worker shortages — the American Hospital Association, for example, forecasts a shortage of 100,000 critical healthcare workers by 2028 — the industry is also facing a “mass exodus” of experienced leaders. This will have significant consequences for both clinical and business operations.
Physician associates (PAs), however, can help address this looming workforce crisis in healthcare, said Jennifer M. Kolb, Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc), PA-C, DFAAPA, chief medical officer (CMO) at the American Academy of Physician Associates.
“We see from surveys that there are already approximately 30,000 PAs in formal leadership roles and another 30,000 in informal ones,” she said. “And it makes sense — PAs are a great fit for leadership, given our clinical backgrounds as well as our abilities to help build outreach and sustainable operations in hospitals and health systems.”
The National Commission on Certification of PAs 2025 Statistical Profile of Board-Certified PAs, an annual survey that characterizes the ins and outs of the PA profession across the country, found that 16% of PAs held leadership positions. They include roles such as lead PA/advanced practice provider (41.2%), director (12.4%), supervisor/manager (12.0%), executive or C-level (5.5%), chief (5.4%), department chair (1.1%), or vice president (0.9%).
About Medscape Insights
Medscape continually surveys physicians and other medical professionals about key practice challenges and current issues, creating high-impact analyses. For example, Medscape’s PA Job Market Report 2025 found that:
- Between 60% and 67% of PAs in the survey described the current demand for PAs as high or very high in their state or region.
- Only 7%-9% of PAs in the survey planned to switch jobs in the next 12 months.
- Only about 1 in 10 PAs in the survey felt a certificate of added qualifications would open up more job opportunities.
Christopher R. Cannell, PA-C, DMSc, MPAS, assistant professor in the PA program at the University of Lynchburg in Lynchburg, Virginia, said that PAs are a valuable resource, ready and waiting to help healthcare organizations better manage issues ranging from rising costs to increasingly complex patient needs.
“PAs have rigorous clinical expertise. We are entrenched and involved with everything we do and work in almost every single service line in healthcare,” he explained. “That means PAs have a different perspective than other clinical roles. We are in a great position to identify what the issues are and how to best manage them.”
A Lack of a Traditional Path
Today, there are well-developed leadership development pathways for both doctors and nurses in healthcare, said Marilyn Suri, DMSc, MPA, PA-C, chief operating officer and senior executive for a pulmonary medicine practice in Florida.
“You have chief nursing officers who are nurses or nurse practitioners. You have chief medical officers, chief executives, and other C-suite positions held by physicians. But there isn’t a chief PA officer, who understands the state statutes and PA scope of practice, who is responsible for an organization’s PA workforce,” she explained.
Kolb added that healthcare’s “traditional hierarchy” has supported doctors and nurses moving into not just clinical leadership roles but operational and business positions, too. Those advancement routes have existed in hospitals and health systems for decades. Perhaps because the PA is a relatively new role in the healthcare space, such paths often do not exist for this role. But it is possible to create them, Kolb said, and those organizations that have done so are seeing the benefits in patient outcomes and experiences.
“We are starting to see some health systems developing internal pathways for leadership for their PAs, and it would be great to see more of them because the systems that are doing those internal pathways well are really thriving,” she said.
Creating such paths, however, may involve changing institutional bylaws and policies to achieve it. When Suri’s boss suggested she join an affiliated institution’s peer review committee for medical malpractice cases several years ago, the CMO said she was not permitted, despite her background and expertise.
“The CMO said PAs are not considered medical staff members and have no voting rights in the institution, so I could not sit as a committee member,” she said. “We are hands-on clinicians and bring a lot of value to healthcare beyond the clinical space. But we need to advocate for ourselves, show our potential, and get the rules changed so we can participate in these different areas.”
Cannell agreed. He said, far too often, hospital administrators may not see the overlap between advanced PA degrees such as DMSc and more traditional Master of Business Administration and Master of Health Administration. That’s why he encourages his doctoral students to strongly advocate for themselves.
“I tell people to raise their hands, get involved, volunteer, continue to push the envelope, and show people that they deserve a seat at the leadership table,” he said. “When you are capable, professional, and always stand up for patients, people are going to eventually see the value.”
A More Patient-Centered Future for Healthcare
To close the gap in healthcare workforce shortages, many organizations are looking to PAs to fill more clinical positions. As a result, Cannell said that healthcare organizations that do not recruit more PAs into leadership roles will be missing out on qualified, experienced candidates who can not only manage this new healthcare workforce but also help shape the future of healthcare delivery and operations.
“The US now has over 200,000 PAs today, and that number is only going to grow, especially with PAs being one of the fastest-growing healthcare jobs in America,” he added. “Hospitals and health systems need us to fill the gaps.”
Kolb agreed. She said hospitals and health systems are starting to recognize the value of PAs at all levels of leadership. She expects to see continued growth in the number of PAs who take on leadership positions.
“Our background and training (PAs tend to come into the workforce with between 3000 and 5000 hours of experience) make us right for these roles. We are collaborative, patient-centered, and trained on all specialties of medicine,” she said. “We work in research, public health, operations, and clinical settings. PAs are a resource just waiting to be tapped into — and we are ready and waiting to contribute to solving healthcare’s biggest obstacles.”
Sources in the story reported no financial disclosures.
Kayt Sukel is a healthcare and science writer based outside Houston.
