Bothwell rolls out red carpet to aid retention, recruitment

Anesthesiologist Dr. Dan McLaughlin was drawn to a position at Bothwell Regional Health Center partly due to the personal treatment he received during his visit there.

McLaughlin left Fort Smith, Ark. to start at Bothwell in February. He and wife, Patty, visited Sedalia when he interviewed with the hospital. During their trip, a friendly, enthusiastic couple with like interests showed them the city and “expressed what appeared to be genuine interest in me,” McLaughlin said.

“They really rolled out the red carpet for me,” he said.

The impression is what hospital officials and a group dedicated to attracting health care providers to the area wish to achieve. It’s a challenge to recruit and retain health care providers in rural areas. A recent health care provider graduate will receive, on average, 26 job offers. Communities in the Midwest are at a disadvantage with having only 22 percent of the placement.

“It’s very, very competitive right now,” said John Dawes, Bothwell CEO and president.

In an effort to meet the challenges and bring quality health care providers to the community, the Healthcare Professions Recruitment and Retention Group was formed. One of the objectives of the group is to serve as a resource when job candidates come with families to interview and visit. They find out the interest of the family members and “connect them with people in the community who share those interests,” Dawes said.

“They meet people during the interview process who they like and they come here knowing somebody they met on the interview,” Dawes said.

Brian Koral, who is the husband of Lora, a nurse practitioner at Katy Trail Community Health, has served on the recruitment and retention group for about a year. Newcomers to the community can often feel isolated if they are unable to make connections with others, Koral said.

“This helps start those connections by planting that seed before they even move here,” he said. “Finding out their interests and trying to pair them with others helps to start building that connection early.”

The goal in recruiting providers isn’t just about filling a job either.

“We really want to recruit people who want to come here and set down some roots,” Koral said.

If a candidate has a son who plays soccer and a daughter who takes piano lessons, the group would find a soccer coach and a music teacher to connect the family with during their visit in order to answer any questions they may have and make them feel welcomed. Each visit is customized based on the candidate and his or her family’s interests.

“We really think that we have used a lot of community intellectual capital to help us differentiate Sedalia or Warsaw to help us with being a part of that great first impression of warm hospitality that will differentiate us,” Dawes said.

A candidate for an emergency room doctor position was an expert marksman. At the suggestion of a member of the hospital staff, a visit to the shooting range at Sierra Bullets was arranged. The doctor ultimately didn’t take a job here, but he remembered Sedalia favorably.

“This guy was so impressed because he was in a community that makes Sierra Bullets,” Dawes said. “… It really leaves good impressions; that’s the feedback we get.”

Patty McLaughlin also has family in the Kansas City area, making the move closer to relatives. The recruitment group also focuses on providers with ties to the area. The group tracks young people from the area that are entering the medical field in the hopes they will return closer to home to practice.

“They have a direct tie to the region with family and friends and they also know the quality of life that’s here because they’ve lived here,” Dawes said.

A program, Breakfast with the Experts, also is designed to foster an interest in health care professions by having health care providers meet with high school students.

“I think we have a much better understanding of the challenges and the creativity we have to have to recruit a workforce in allied health,” Dawes said.

“It’s helped us with our relationships with the schools, identify kids with interest in allied health and mentor and provide exposure to them.”

The group also recognizes the work of existing health care providers.

The community as a whole also can help with retention of providers, Dawes said.

“Make sure existing health care providers know how much we appreciate them,” he said. “Volunteer when candidates visit, you might make a connection with the family.”

McLaughlin is pleased with his decision to take the position at Bothwell.

“For the size of staff we have here, we have some really good talent,” he said.

“I’ve been impressed favorably with the degree of commitment to patient satisfaction. These people here are consumed with a desire to please their patients.”