HASC’s Associates and Partners Event drew over 40 hospital members, associate members, Endorsed Business Partners and association staff for an engaging time of learning and networking on Sept. 17.
Paul Young, HASC’s senior vice president, public policy and reimbursement, welcomed the crowd and shared a wide-ranging analysis of how member hospitals are responding to funding cuts and navigating challenges from the H.R. 1 bill.
Young’s presentation showed significant financial pressures across health care. In 2023, national health care spending reached $5 trillion, or 17.6% of GDP, and is projected to grow to $8.5 trillion by 2033. Medicare spending is forecast to double from $1 trillion to $2.1 trillion by the early 2030s, while hospital operating margins remain critically low at just 0.93%.
Shannon Sedgwick, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, then offered local context on health care’s role as an economic engine in LA County. She noted that health care serves as a major employer, accounting for 1.8% of employment and 2.7% of labor income in LA County. Major facilities such as Cedars-Sinai, LA County+USC Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center serve as community anchors, addressing the needs of an aging population — projected to double to 30% by 2055.
Like Young’s, Sedgwick’s presentation highlighted major operational challenges facing the industry. Hospitals continue struggling with workforce shortages, especially nurses and physicians. Rising labor costs may intensify with potential minimum wage increases to $25/hour in July 2026. Other pressures include increased medical supply costs, global pharmaceutical shortages and seismic retrofitting mandates, with an estimated $160 billion price tag statewide and a 2030 compliance deadline.
Despite the challenges, speakers identified promising opportunities for associate members and partners to support hospital members through innovation and collaboration. Special areas of potential include digital health and AI adoption, telehealth and hospital-at-home pilot programs. Other opportunities lay in workforce support solutions, technology and operations improvements, facilities development and initiatives on equity and community health.
Q&A sessions followed both presentations, with audience members engaging in lively discussion with Young and Sedgwick. Attendees then enjoyed a networking lunch. Six of the group also took a tour of the HASC office and learned more about Communities Lifting Communities, a nonprofit affiliate of the association, from CLC President Susan Harrington.
“We’re grateful for the amazing turnout at this year’s HASC Associates and Partners Event,” said Katrina Quinto, the association’s director of membership services. “The hospital and health care industry are facing significant challenges.
“But what we saw is the collective wisdom and innovative spirit in the room that gives us great confidence in our ability to navigate these pressures together,” she said. “HASC looks forward to building on the momentum of this very important conversation.”