Patient Safety Starts With Physician Support: How Locum Tenens Bridges the Staffing Gap

Hospitals don’t wake up hoping to use locum tenens.  They use locums because the alternative is worse: reduced services, longer wait times, delayed procedures, or pushing already-stretched teams further past the edge. When staffing gaps hit critical levels, patient access and patient safety start to feel the pressure.

Locum tenens isn’t a “nice-to-have” staffing option anymore. It’s one of the most practical ways to keep care moving when demand outpaces supply.

The gap is real, and it’s growing

The U.S. physician shortage isn’t a vague future problem it’s a measurable workforce issue driven by population growth, aging patients, and a large portion of physicians nearing retirement age. In its 2024 workforce projections, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimates a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036.

The AAMC also notes demand is being pushed by demographics: from 2021 to 2036, the U.S. population is projected to grow 8.4%, while the population age 65+ is projected to grow 34.1%, increasing demand for specialties that care for older Americans.

That’s the broader workforce challenge. At the local level, hospitals experience the strain in immediate and tangible ways. They face persistent vacancies, especially in high demand specialties, along with coverage gaps caused by turnover, medical leave, or retirements. Seasonal surges further strain already limited capacity, and lengthy credentialing and recruitment timelines delay permanent hires.  When these pressures continue and teams remain understaffed for extended periods, another challenge inevitably surfaces, burnout.

Burnout isn’t just a “well-being” issue—it’s a patient safety issue

When physicians are overloaded, the system doesn’t simply “run harder.” It gets riskier.

A systematic review in Medicina (2019) found burnout among health professionals is associated with worsening patient safety outcomes.

NASEM (National Academy of Medicine) also emphasizes burnout’s downstream effects: it increases absenteeism and turnover, reduces productivity, and has “profound consequences” for workforce adequacy and the quality and safety of patient care.

So patient safety isn’t only about protocols and checklists. It’s also about whether the workforce is supported enough to deliver care reliably.

That’s where locum tenens becomes more than “temporary staffing.”

What hospitals and facilities need (and why it’s hard to solve permanently)

Most facilities today are trying to balance two competing realities at the same time. On one hand, they need consistent clinical coverage to maintain services. Call schedules, procedural capacity, clinic access, and inpatient coverage cannot pause while recruitment efforts are underway. Patient care continues regardless of staffing transitions.

On the other hand, permanent hiring takes time, and in many cases, it simply cannot happen fast enough. Even a well-managed recruitment process can take months from initial search to signed contract, and credentialing often extends that timeline further. Meanwhile, patient demand does not slow down to accommodate administrative processes.

This creates a predictable mismatch. Facilities need coverage immediately, but traditional hiring timelines operate on a much slower clock. Locum tenens bridges that gap, providing qualified coverage while long-term staffing solutions are put in place.

How locum tenens bridges the gap

Locum tenens can serve as a stabilizing force in a healthcare system that is constantly under pressure. In practical terms, it helps maintain patient access to care while facilities work through the permanent recruitment process. It also plays a key role in preventing the overload that often leads to burnout and staff turnover. Temporary coverage can ease the burden on internal teams by stepping in during planned PTO, maternity or paternity leave, medical leave, call coverage, or sudden increases in patient volume. This kind of flexibility helps keep schedules stable and protects existing staff from excessive strain.

Facilities are not the only ones who see locums as a relief valve. Physicians do as well. In AMN Healthcare’s 2024 survey of locum tenens physicians and advanced practitioners, 56 percent said a better schedule was their top reason for choosing locums, while 45 percent cited reducing or addressing burnout as a primary motivation. Workforce stability, therefore, is not just about hiring new physicians. It also depends on retention and building a more sustainable work environment.

Locum tenens also fills an important gap when demand rises or vacancies last longer than expected. Many recruiting organizations are increasingly relying on this strategy. An American Medical Association article referencing AAPPR research reported that in 2024, organizations used locum tenens as a stopgap in 16.4 percent of physician searches, up from 9.2 percent in 2023. That increase suggests a shift in how healthcare systems think about staffing. Locums is no longer just an emergency measure but is becoming a standard part of workforce planning.

Finally, locum tenens can bring specialized care to underserved or hard-to-staff areas. When a facility cannot recruit certain specialties locally or needs immediate coverage, locum physicians can help preserve specialty services, reduce the need for patients to travel long distances for care, and prevent delays in diagnosis or treatment. In communities where the local physician supply is limited, locums remains one of the most direct ways to protect patient access and continuity of care.

Protecting patient safety through smart staffing

At FreeUpMD, we view locum tenens as a bridge between two equally important needs. Facilities require reliable, fully credentialed coverage to maintain services and protect patient access. At the same time, physicians need assignments that are sustainable, well supported, and transparent, because an exhausted workforce is not a safe workforce.

That bridge holds when the right foundations are in place. It depends on clear communication between the facility, the provider, and the staffing partner. It requires realistic expectations, clean scheduling, and strong credentialing coordination. Most importantly, it demands the right clinical fit rather than simply placing a warm body into an open slot.

Patient safety begins long before the first patient encounter. It starts with having the right clinician in place, backed by the right support, at the right time.

Closing thought

Staffing shortages and burnout don’t stay contained inside hospital walls. They show up as delayed care, reduced access, and stressed teams trying to do the impossible.

Locum tenens won’t solve the national shortage alone, but it can stabilize care in the places where the gap is already here.

If your facility is working to maintain services while recruiting for long term hires, or if you are a clinician searching for a more sustainable way to practice, locum tenens can serve as the bridge that keeps care consistent, protects patient safety, and ensures communities continue to receive the services they depend on.

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References

• AAMC (2024). New AAMC Report Shows Continuing Projected Physician Shortage (up to 86,000 physicians by 2036).

• AAMC. The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2021 to 2036 (population growth and 65+ growth projections).

• National Academies / NAM (2019). Clinician Burnout and Professional Well-Being highlights brief (burnout impacts workforce adequacy and patient care quality/safety).

• de Lima Garcia et al. (2019). Influence of Burnout on Patient Safety: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. 

• AMA (2026). Which specialties are more likely to have locum tenens? (AAPPR stopgap percentage in searches).