an emergency medicine Locum Tenens Success Story

Finding and retaining physicians can be a major challenge for rural hospitals, especially large facilities with high patient volume. A lack of stable physician coverage in a critical area like an emergency room can be downright devastating.

When a 300-bed regional medical center in rural Kentucky with over 200 physicians on staff called on Interim Physicians for help staffing their ER, we delivered in spades, leaving other locum tenens firms in the dust.

Samantha, the hospital’s director of recruiting, was in a bind due to the fact that her facility in Kentucky was not located anywhere near a major metropolitan area. She could get physician coverage sporadically from other locum tenens firms, but no one would stick. Only Interim Physicians has been consistently able to deliver qualified Emergency Medicine physicians to the facility.

What’s our secret, you might wonder? Ask Greg Stelmach, Sales Director at Interim Physicians, and a bit of a staffing guru for this particular facility. With over 20 years of experience as a physician recruiter, Greg can always be counted on to have a clever trick up his sleeve.

“Many years ago, we had great success staffing radiologists at this facility in Kentucky. Fast-forward a few years, and their ER was having a heck of a time with turnover. This facility’s standards are stringent: their day volume is high, their certification standards are high, and they require physicians who are completely
free of malpractice lawsuits,” Greg notes.

OK, Greg, enough with the suspense! How'd you do it?

“The key was to find a rock star ER doctor who could serve as a strong foundation for future locums doctors. We were able to bring in Dr. Wesley, a disciplined military physician from a nearby Army base in Kentucky.  After only his third locum tenens shift, the client fell in love with him and decided to bring him on full time as the new Director of the ER. With him as the department head, the facility was able to put new procedures in place that paved the way for new physicians to follow. He was instrumental in getting their house in order, and it wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t found their dream candidate,” Greg says, proudly.

Samantha, the client, couldn’t be happier. What was once a problem area for this facility is now a bright spot. Four of Interim Physician’s doctors are currently working at the facility, and a total of six have worked locum tenens assignments in the many years we’ve worked with this facility.

The ability to offer long-term locum tenens coverage in multiple specialties demonstrates that Interim Physicians’ versatility and three decades of experience are invaluable assets to our clients. Greg maintains regular contact with Dr. Wesley, while always staying on the lookout for his next crafty solution to sticky problems.

Read more success stories from Interim Physicians