Roy W. Breitenbach, a co-leader of Harris Beach Murtha’s Health Care Industry Team, and Brendan J. Venter, also a member of the Health Care team and the firm’s Immigration Practice Group, joined other Long Island leaders who revealed their predictions for 2026 in a recent Long Island Business News article.
The attorneys discussed how immigration strategies can help Long Island health care employers address staffing challenges:
“Healthcare staffing challenges on Long Island, and around the country, will worsen in 2026. Let’s call it the silver tsunami. Approximately 11,200 U.S. residents turn 65 every day—about 4.1 million new senior citizens every year. Yet shortages of both doctors and nurses persist.
That means longer wait times for care, stressed-out professionals caring for higher numbers of patients and more healthcare “deserts” where care is not available.
Immigration can help. More than 1 million immigrants work in healthcare in the United States. Still, the supply is falling short, especially in geriatric specialties.
While our country is facing abnormally restrictive immigration policies, employers still have several options to fill the staffing void. For example, the most common option for international medical graduates to engage in residency or fellowship training in the United States is the J-1 visa. H-1B visas allow foreign medical professionals to be temporarily employed in the United States in specialty occupations. O-1 visas are available for individuals with extraordinary ability in their field. For nurses, employers can pursue a streamlined process toward permanent residency via the Schedule A I-140 process.
Today’s challenges are tomorrow’s crisis, so health care employers must face the problem head-on. Proactive immigration strategies ensure that health care organizations are able to hire, transfer and retain the brightest and best non-U.S. talent to complement their U.S. workforce.”
Read the complete article. (Subscription may be required.)
