WORKFORCE
The Arizona SunReport · September 7, 2026
HonorHealth opened a 12,000-square-foot clinical training facility Monday at its Shea Medical Center campus in Scottsdale, a move the nonprofit health system said will help close a workforce gap that has left roughly 900 nursing positions unfilled across its five Valley hospitals.
The $8.5 million HonorHealth Clinical Education and Simulation Center features 14 high-fidelity patient simulators, eight skills labs, and four virtual-reality training stations designed to accelerate onboarding for newly hired nurses and provide continuing education for existing staff. The system currently employs about 4,100 nurses and expects to hire 1,200 more over the next 18 months to keep pace with patient demand at facilities including Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center and Deer Valley Medical Center.
"We've been fighting the same battle as every health system in Maricopa County — recruiting against each other for a finite pool of talent," said HonorHealth Chief Nursing Officer Denise Ramirez. "This center is our bet that investing in our own pipeline will stabilize our workforce and reduce our reliance on travel nurses, who cost us 40% more per hour than permanent staff."
The timing is critical. Arizona's health care sector added 8,300 jobs in the past year, but the state still faces a projected shortfall of 5,400 registered nurses by 2030, according to the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association. The vacancy rate for RNs across Maricopa County hospitals hovers near 17%, up from 9% in 2019, driven by retirements, burnout, and a post-pandemic exodus of experienced nurses.
HonorHealth's initiative comes as competition for clinical talent intensifies along the Loop 101 corridor. Banner Health operates its own simulation center in Phoenix, and Dignity Health last year expanded nursing partnerships with Grand Canyon University. Meanwhile, Mayo Clinic in north Scottsdale has been recruiting aggressively with sign-on bonuses averaging $18,000.
The new center will also serve as a hub for externships with Arizona State University's Edson College, Scottsdale Community College, and Grand Canyon University, offering students 200 clinical rotation slots monthly. HonorHealth said it expects to reduce the average onboarding time for new graduate nurses from 14 weeks to 10 weeks, a productivity gain worth an estimated $3.2 million annually in reduced orientation costs and overtime pay.
Local economists see the move as a strategic response to structural shifts. "Health systems are realizing that poaching from competitors is a zero-sum game," said Mesa-based healthcare analyst Laura Chen of Southwest Market Research. "Building your own training infrastructure is the only sustainable way to grow supply in a region adding 90,000 residents a year. HonorHealth is essentially creating a farm team for its own hospitals."
Ramirez said the system will track retention metrics over the next 12 months, targeting a reduction in first-year nurse turnover from 24% to 15%. If successful, HonorHealth plans to open a satellite simulation wing at its Thompson Peak campus by late 2027, signaling that Arizona's largest nonprofit health systems are shifting from bidding wars to long-term workforce development as the state's population — and its healthcare demands — continue to surge.