According to a new survey,  78 percent of hospital execs think there is a shortage of physicians, 66 percent say there is a shortage of nurses and 50 percent report there is a shortage of advanced practitioners.  More alarming, the vacancy rates in hospitals for the various specialties is around 18% – up from 10% in 2009.  Furthering the problem, the healthcare system is expecting a large influx of patients from the Affordable Care Act just as a large number of doctors and nurses are set to retire.  The new patients will only exacerbate the shortages.