The Situation

The client facility had been using a locum vendor for their NICU for some time, but had experienced a number of issues that were making it difficult to staff the program, so they turned to MPLT Healthcare for help. One of the problems was that the facility’s reputation had suffered harm in the community in the past. Despite having overcome the event in question, the community’s trust in the facility had not fully recovered, including that of the local providers. The facility and the locum vendor were consequently struggling to get top providers to stay on for longer periods or join in a permanent capacity.

Another complicating factor in the client’s situation was that the NICU program was in the process of being taken over by a local university. While this held a great deal of promise for the facility’s program, the university did not have as much experience with staffing this particular facility. While this was something that would improve over time, the facility had urgent staffing needs that could not wait.

Furthermore, the team member who was in charge of staffing the program was not a recruiter, but rather someone who had been given the responsibility to handle the staffing situation. While ready for the challenge, this person realized the value that assistance from a trusted staffing partner could bring when it came to getting things done in the urgent timeframe required. That’s where MPLT Healthcare came into the picture.

The Solution

When our team began working with this client, we initially submitted 15 providers for consideration and ultimately ended up staffing the entire unit. During the course of our work with the client, MPLT Healthcare staffed seven neonatologists and two pediatric hospitalists for both day and night shifts, averaging 32 shifts per month. This partnership continued for over a year, and two of the neonatologists went on to permanent positions with the client.

We were able to achieve these results by building a great relationship with the client’s team, especially through the work of our seasoned account manager. By cultivating a rapport with the client and truly understanding the facility, we were able to anticipate the client’s needs and fulfill them quickly and efficiently. Through this exceptional relationship, we became an exclusive, preferred vendor, essentially serving as an extension of the facility’s scheduling department.

As part of our premier service, we provided a 24/7 point of contact to the client’s team to ensure that they could get the service they needed, especially when it came to emergency coverage. We also selected a dedicated inhouse credentialer to make sure their credentialing requests could be handled with due efficiency and speed. This team member knew the facility’s particular credentialing process very well and had a great relationship with the other offices involved. Since part of the process was an appointment with the university handling the NICU program, it was important that the credentialing team get everything scheduled right away to allow providers to work as soon as possible.

Thanks to our team’s ability to overcome these challenges as well as a positive history with providers in the area, our reputation quickly spread throughout the community. Despite the lingering cloud over the facility’s reputation, we were able to introduce quality providers and get them to see for themselves how great it was to work with the facility. Word spread around the community and providers began to refer additional clinicians, helping us staff shifts even more quickly with trusted, quality team members who worked well together.

Over time, the client began to fill the unit with permanent staff and was able to phase out our locum tenens providers. We made it possible for them to do so by taking pressure off the client’s recruiting team so they could take their time and find the exact staff they wanted for those essential positions. We had also played a part in building trust between the facility and the local provider community as well, enabling them to acquire the staff they needed.

The MPLT Way

Through a great partnership, MPLT Healthcare was able to assist a client in need. After demonstrating our abilities over just a few shifts, the client had confidence we could fill further needs over a long period of time. We rose to the challenge by cultivating the local provider community and leveraging our own experienced staff. It is always our mission to help our clients achieve success by providing them with the proven healthcare talent and world class service for which we are known. By following that mission, we were able to support our client’s needs and facilitate a satisfying outcome for both the client and our providers.

Client Testimonial

“Our account manager and the rest of the MPLT Team have been incredibly professional and reliable. Our account manager went out of his way to stay in contact with me during our staffing crisis. I had many staffing agencies reach out to me for their business, but I stuck with our account manager because of his work ethic, professionalism and reliability.” - Client’s Pediatric Department Head

Client Background

The client facility is an acute care teaching hospital that is part of a larger not-for-profit healthcare system. The client’s mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities the client serves, and to provide compassionate, innovative, state of the art clinical care.