TAMPA, Fla. — AdventHealth West Florida Division will host it's biggest ever career expo this week, as the healthcare network faces unprecedented growth as well as hiring challenges due to the pandemic.

The Career Expo is happening today and tomorrow at Amalie Arena.

"It has been really challenging since the pandemic," said Senior Executive Officer for Patient Outcomes Dr. Robin McGuinness".  A lot of people have made a lot of decisions about when, how much, um, and the circumstances to work."

More than 5,000 people have signed up for the career expo, where 1,000 people will be hired.

Some are flying in from out-of-state.

AdventHealth says it will be hiring some positions on the spot, and some will be offered up to $35,000 dollars in incentives.

AdventHealth's West Florida Division is growing quickly, with new patient care centers, free-standing ER's as well as a new surgical tower in Tampa.

That growth, along with job losses during the pandemic has led to the extraordinary need for new hires.

At the same time, health care employers are competing with each other to hire new employees, forcing employers to offer more incentives and perks.

"ll of us in healthcare are having the same challenges.  There is a void right now in the number of people we need in our hospitals and we are also challenged because we are growing, we've had this unprecedented growth," said Dr. McGuinness.