NashvilleHealth Biweekly Insights – Nov. 18, 2025

November 18, 2025

Dear NashvilleHealth Supporters and Network:

This week’s insights are focused on a concept central to the NashvilleHealth view of wellness and health: healthier neighborhoods make healthier communities, healthier communities make healthier workforces, and healthier workforces drive business key performance indicators that make a healthier economy for us all. These are themes we will discuss with various business leaders, most of whom lead shift-based workforces that reflect Nashville core industries, at our upcoming event in December. We invite you to register for our Synergizing Wellness and Prosperity event at Nashville Yards to hear intentional conversations around solutions-based approaches to supporting the workers that power our economy. We will also discuss how development that anchors the everyday assets our workers and residents need in order to thrive is both possible and necessary. While the below articles situate a landscape of challenges, we believe Nashville is up to the task, and on December 4^th, we will center the opportunities we have as a city to position ourselves ahead of the pack. We hope you’ll join us.

Article: Over half of US healthcare workers plan to switch jobs by next year, survey finds | Reuters

What: Survey–report: 55% of U.S. healthcare workers (nurses, LPNs, etc.) say they intend to job-hunt or switch. Many feel underappreciated, and don’t see long-term career support from current employers.

Why It Matters: This suggests a serious retention problem in a shift-based workforce that includes night and weekends, shifts many Americans view as undesirable. When considering that many of these positions also require licenses, it sets a real challenge, as high turnover in healthcare can drive up labor costs, worsen shortages, impair quality of care, and strain public health infrastructure — especially in 24/7 settings. These are lessons that are applicable to our city beyond healthcare, given the extended hours that represent hospitality and entertainment/leisure—staple industries for Nashville. Somewhere within this challenge across industries, are compelling opportunities for cross-sector collaboration.

Article: Why Every City Must See Housing as a Workforce Issue – National League of Cities

What: The piece argues that housing isn’t just a social or public-policy issue — it’s fundamentally tied to economic development and workforce stability. It identifies three housing-related challenges that undermine a strong workforce: affordability, supply, and safety.

Why It Matters: Almost all of us can anecdotally tell the story of a Nashvillian that works in Nashville but lives outside of Davidson County due to costs of living, and the strain that places on the worker and family before and after a shift. This article puts a trend basis to it that is occurring all over the country. Long commutes due to insufficient nearby housing cost workers time and money, reduce quality of life, and may increase public infrastructure strain — all of which weigh on economic growth.  Cities that invest in concepts such as workforce housing can be vastly more competitive in attracting investment and talent, creating an orientation that workers are more likely to live locally, spend locally, and create stability in their jobs. This is another reason that a determinant of health, (stable, affordable, and safe) housing, is also a determinant of a city’s economic health.

Article| Americans see childcare costs as ‘major problem,’ AP-NORC poll finds | AP News

What: A poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs found that around 75% of U.S. adults view childcare costs as a “major problem.” The poll also reveals broad public concern over affordability and varied opinions on policy solutions.

Why It Matters: Continuing our focus on our workforce, this article details that high and growing childcare costs are not just a family issue – they’re a national economic concern. Because so many adults see the costs as a serious problem, this could drive political momentum for policy reform. If unaddressed, expensive childcare may push parents (especially mothers) out of the labor force or force them to work fewer hours, which drags on economic growth. Again, this is heightened in cities, such as ours, that rely on a core of shift workers to power core industries. This dynamic, among others, is what led to the formation of the Nashville Early Education Coalition to drive solutions locally, and why cross-sector collaboration could provide better workforce stability across industries.

Sincerely,

~ Mark Yancy

NashvilleHealth CEO