The CEO of UW Medical Center told KING 5 that visa uncertainty creates “significant disruption.”
SEATTLE — Top health care company leaders in Washington are sounding off about President Trump’s costly new penalty for sponsoring foreign workers, with one CEO telling KING 5 it could impact patient care.
Dr. Tim Dellit, the CEO of UW Medical Center, told KING 5 Tuesday that visa uncertainty creates “significant disruption” for prospective talent and “a loss for the research and education communities, as well as for the vital clinical care [they] provide on behalf of [their] patients and the broader community.”
The Trump administration recently announced it is charging U.S. companies a $100,000 annual fee to sponsor a new worker on an H-1B visa, making hiring more difficult in industries like healthcare, despite an existing doctor shortage.
An H-1B visa is a temporary, non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to hire highly educated foreign professionals to work in “specialty occupations.” Trump administration officials argue such visas are too often used to bring in workers who will be paid less than American workers.
“Train Americans; stop bringing in people to take our jobs,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
The new six-figure fee has prompted hiring managers at two of the largest local health care companies — UW Medical Center and Fred Hutch Cancer Center — to pump the brakes, at least temporarily, on foreign worker visa petitions.
However, Washington struggles with a severe doctor shortage.
According to the Cicero Institute, the state is projected to reach a shortage of 6,037 doctors by 2030. Primary care alone makes up more than a quarter of that number.
How big could the impacts be?
At UW Medical Center, officials told KING 5 they estimate at least 150 employees with such visas work in medical care. At Fred Hutch Cancer Center, federal data shows that over the last five years, it has approved 181 such visa applications.
The Trump administration says the new fee applies to all visa petitions filed on or after Sept. 21.
“That’s the policy here. 100,000 dollars a year for H-1B visas, and all the big companies are on board,” Lutnick said.
The national Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit against the administration, arguing the policy “moves us in the wrong direction” when it comes to national interests like staffing hospitals. The chamber says H-1B visas help fill that gap.
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