Hospitals try new ways to recruit, train and retain staff to cope with pandemic worker shortages

CATHY WURZER: The State Hospital Association says it appears the pandemic-induced worker shortage may be easing a little bit. Just over 17% of clinical jobs in Minnesota hospitals were vacant at the start of this year. Now that's a lot, but in 2022, the hospital job vacancy rate was 19%. Now to put this into some context, in 2021, just 6% of hospital jobs were not filled. Because of the thousands of unfilled positions hospitals have been forced to get creative about their efforts to recruit medical staff. Gillette Specialty Clinic, based in St. Paul, even hired a local children's choir and a rock band when they created this ad to attract more staff.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

WOMAN: The work that we do here, you see the results. It's going to be hard work, but it's going to be great work.

(SINGING) Though I have my doubts about the meaning of this life, I see it in the children and I see it--

CATHY WURZER: And Gillette is not alone. Hospitals all over Minnesota have made special efforts to attract and retain medical staff. Dani Holtzclaw is a provider recruiter for Winona Health. She's on the line right now to talk about what they've done differently since the pandemic. Welcome back. How are you doing?

DANI HOLTZCLAW: Thank you. I'm good. How are you?

CATHY WURZER: Good. Thanks for taking the time here. So I know that every hospital has struggled with staffing since the beginning of the pandemic. Give us a sense here, what has been happening with your hospital, Winona Health? And what are you doing to try to improve recruitment and retention this year?

DANI HOLTZCLAW: Yeah, so like everybody else across the country, we saw significant changes to our workforce throughout the COVID pandemic. And then since, we've really had to pivot and do things a little differently to try and attract new caregivers to join our organization as well as retain the wonderful people that serve our community. So we're looking at different ways on how to be inventive with training. So we just recently opened up a simulation lab in partnership with Winona State University in our community. So since that's been open, we've had more than hundreds and hundreds of caregivers come through and get training. Being able to collaborate with people that work in other parts of our hospital. Also, local emergency services personnel that have been able to utilize that space for training. So we're just really trying to think outside the box. Collaborate with our community and through partnerships to attract people to come to Winona Health and serve our community in that way.

CATHY WURZER: I want to ask about the simulation lab. Are you running into folks who say, I'd like to work in health care, but I don't have the training? And so are you doing your own training, in a sense?

DANI HOLTZCLAW: Yeah. So we're doing a lot of training both with people that are already through their education and are credentialed to be caregivers, but also high school students, college students that are in the midst of education. We've had a bunch of high school students that maybe have an interest in health care that have come through the simulation lab to check that out. We have interns and students that routinely rotate through Winona Health. And so they get really, like, a real-life version, but in a safe way of what health care can look like, those different situations. And it's just a safe place for people to not only get immersed in health care, but then once they're already health care providers, just to sharpen their skills and learn new skills, too.

CATHY WURZER: Boy, you hear a lot about the work-life balance, especially in the, of course, in our field, your field. I mean, it's everywhere, right? How have you incorporated that into your retention plans for employees?

DANI HOLTZCLAW: Yeah, so that's been something that has been really interesting in the last couple of years. I'm the provider recruiter for Winona Health so I get the opportunity to bring new physicians, nurse practitioners, TAs, nurse anesthetists to our organization, and that's one thing that is really consistent I'm hearing from candidates is they're looking for that work-life balance. They want to be able to enjoy their family and have hobbies while also serving their community through their specialty. So we're looking at different ways. Is that one less day of work a week, but longer days? Or is that shorter days with a smaller SPE? So we're really open and looking to how that looks like. Also, kind of telemedicine, is that something that would give people, our health care providers, a little bit more balance in their life while still being able to practice their craft?

CATHY WURZER: Much like the news business, Dani, health care is kind of 24/7, especially in some areas of the health care, say emergency medicine. Is it really possible to have good work-life balance in your field?

DANI HOLTZCLAW: Well, that's a really good question. It is a 24/7, 365 industry. But we really try to build these groups of professionals that can be supportive of one another, that we can be supportive as their colleagues at Winona Health And so is that maybe working a couple less shifts a month so that they're getting some good stretches of time where they can enjoy their hobbies and their families. So really being cognizant of that.

We have a great wellness program through our organization called [? Healthy ?] [? You ?] that, no matter if you get the insurance through our hospital or not, that you can participate in that. And that really helps with some of those burnout, and just really helping to look at the whole person and not just as a provider and what can you do for our organization.

CATHY WURZER: We should say, of course, Winona is a beautiful part of the state of Minnesota. Does it make it a little bit easier when you recruit to say, hey, we have this gorgeous spot in Southeastern Minnesota. It's a great little town. Does that help?

DANI HOLTZCLAW: There is absolutely-- there's no doubt about that, Cathy. So it is-- Winona is a gem of a community. The hardest part is just getting people to our community. Once we get them to Winona, Winona sells itself. Our organization is an independent community hospital. We're really proud of that. We're really proud of all the partnerships that we have within our community. And so, yeah, sometimes, it's just getting people there. And then once we get them to Winona and they meet the beautiful people that live in Winona, it's an easy sell.

CATHY WURZER: So final question, are all your efforts paying off for Winona Health?

DANI HOLTZCLAW: Yeah. We have been really, really lucky that we have some wonderful people that have joined our medical staff and in all roles at Winona Health. So you walk around the hospital and for a new person, they're almost, like, is this fake? People are so kind to each other, and are saying, "good morning," and are genuinely curious about others' well-beings. And so we do have a fantastic medical staff and a fantastic group of caregivers at Winona Health. So I would say that our efforts are being paid off.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Dani, thanks for the time. We appreciate it.

DANI HOLTZCLAW: Thanks, Cathy. It was great to talk to you.

CATHY WURZER: Dani Holtzclaw is a provider recruiter for Winona Health.