FocusOne Solutions partnered with a large Pennsylvania hospital to facilitate a substantial and urgent hiring effort for contract staff. With the closing of a competitor hospital within the same community and the intensity of flu seasons in recent years, the hospital was slated to open a new unit in response to the increase in volume.
The facility was in need of 37 contract RNs, 10 of which required a short hiring turnaround of three weeks in order to open the unit. This initial hiring phase coincided with the Holiday season, an especially challenging period for recruitment.
Background
The hospital had begun utilizing contract staff for the first time in over 10 years and while their contract staffing efforts were sustainable, sourcing through multiple agencies was becoming cumbersome and difficult to manage. Once the HR staff received a request for nearly double their typical number of contract staff, they knew the volume would be more than they were prepared to handle.
The director of HR was familiar with FocusOne and had a positive working relationship with FocusOne’s sister company Aureus Medical Group, which had provided contract staff in the past.
Factors that led to the hospital engaging FocusOne were its reputation and service offerings, including software and compliance management.
Recruitment Strategy & Execution
The hospital understood the ambitious nature of the recruitment need given the short window compounded by the time of year. FocusOne embraced the challenge and responded immediately. A conference call was quickly scheduled, which involved multiple representatives from FocusOne and the hospital’s HR staff.
The facility communicated its need for a total of 37 contract RNs, all Med-Surg, with an initial 10 RNs needed within three weeks, in time for a January 14 start date. The remainder of the hiring was guided by staggered orientation dates established by the facility. Additional requirements included two years of Med-Surg experience and a current Pennsylvania license.
In addition to discussion of strategy and process, FocusOne assured the hospital that despite the approaching Holiday, timing would not impact the accessibility and availability of its team. This reassurance and support was critical to the success of the project.
FocusOne received job orders for the contract positions on Christmas Eve. It pulled together its full Operations team and began making calls to agencies to communicate the immediacy of the need and expedite the sourcing process.
Knowing the majority of contract nurses take holidays off and typically would have confirmed their next assignments with January start dates, it was important for agency recruiters to immediately reach out to their pools of nurses. In addition, Pennsylvania is not a compact state and the licensure process is fairly lengthy. Therefore, nurses must also have their state license in hand in order to be considered.
Aiding the process was a commitment by the hospital to turn interviews and offers around within 24-hours. Once candidates were received from the agencies, they were reviewed immediately by FocusOne, forwarded to the HR contact with the facility, then to the hiring manager for final review.
Results
FocusOne successfully filled all 37 contract positions with the facility and the hospital was able to open its new unit on time. Of the initial 10 positions with January 14 start dates, all but two were filled within the aggressive three week timeline, though were placed shortly thereafter.
Since then, the majority of contract staff has been extended multiple times. FocusOne has also assisted the hospital with converting several of the contract staff to permanent hires.
The relationship between the hospital and FocusOne has been so successful, two months following the completion of the initial job order the facility requested an additional 60 contract RNs (Med-Surg and ER). These positions were successfully filled and the hospital has continued to utilize FocusOne for its contract and direct hire staffing needs in multiple areas across the facility, including but not limited to RNs (multiple specialties), Pharmacy Techs, CT Techs, Sterile Processing Techs, and Cardiac Sonographers. At one time FocusOne’s working count at the hospital reached 108 contract staff.