Through a long-time relationship with Senior Director of Business Development Tori Schuessler, a rural Iowa critical access hospital turned to Jackson Physician Search during a staffing emergency. Senior Search Consultant Susan Anderson delivered two FMOBs and a family medicine physician who fit the hospital’s culture and small-town community and could keep pace with patient demand.
As you step through the doors at this rural Iowa medical center, you’re greeted with a smile. The hospital’s Executive Director of Community Engagement embodies the kindness and connection at the heart of the hospital’s culture. “Happy workers give the best care,” she says with a smile.
She has had Jackson Physician Search on her radar for years and has built a relationship with Tori Schuessler, Senior Director of Business Development. Jackson Physician Search is a proud endorsed partner of ServiShare, a subsidiary of the Iowa Hospital Association, and Tori manages this partnership, initiating strong recruitment relationships with Iowa healthcare organizations.
“I think we both have each other on speed dial,” she quipped about their relationship.
When a doctor unexpectedly left the busy practice and another withdrew late in the hiring process, the executive director found herself facing a staffing emergency. As a critical access hospital and the only birthing facility in the county, the hospital delivers upwards of 350 babies annually, which would now be split between only five physicians, one of whom was retiring in the next five years. Adding to the urgency: the national OB/GYN shortage is especially acute in Iowa, with the fewest OB/GYNs per capita of any state. It’s also among the states with the highest losses of obstetric care, including the recent closure of an OB unit in a neighboring county. She called her right-hand woman, Tori. They mapped out a plan to find three physicians to keep ahead of patient demand and prevent burnout.
The hospital’s communal culture extended to the way the practice operated. The executive director was worried their full-scope practice, which offered both inpatient and outpatient care, might deter newer physicians and make it even more difficult to fill all these roles. Tori understood that success would depend upon reaching a wide pool of candidates, so she tapped Senior Search Consultant Susan Anderson, who brought strong marketing skills to the search.
“My goal is to always hit the entire candidate pool in some way, shape, or form,” Susan summed up her recruitment strategy. “I constantly refreshed our ads, changing them up every month to maximize SEO.”
The hospital serves a diverse community, many for whom English is a second language. Sourcing multilingual physicians from backgrounds that matched the community was a priority, but securing visas would take time and time was tight. Fortunately, the hospital had access to in-house immigration attorneys with a track record for getting visas approved, giving Susan the green light to pursue candidates seeking visa sponsorship. It both expanded her pool and provided another incentive she could offer.
Before Susan scheduled a single interview, though, the executive director made sure Susan got her own onsite visit. “Basically, we treated her like a visiting physician,” she explained. “We wanted her to experience everything they would during their tour of the hospital and around the community.” While she was there, Susan and the team sharpened the interview strategy and offer details, particularly aligning compensation packages to benchmarks.
“Susan provided great coaching from the outset,” the executive director said. “She was very honest with us about what we needed to change.”
Susan turned to Jackson Physician Search’s expansive database of opted-in physicians to find a Spanish-speaking family medicine doctor when she encountered Dr. A’s profile. A native of Puerto Rico currently practicing in Florida, Dr. A was looking for an opportunity in Iowa and was drawn to having the ability to provide both inpatient and outpatient care. But when Susan called him to see if he’d be a good match, Dr. A had a long list of questions for her instead. “He was interviewing me, basically,” Susan chuckled. “He called me back the next day to throw his hat in the ring.”
After a phone interview with a local physician who was leading the hiring process at the hospital, Dr. A and his wife agreed to an onsite visit. On the day of the interview, the executive director escorted Dr. A to the hospital and took his wife into town. On the drive back to the hospital, Mrs. A told her that she could not believe how friendly everyone was, and that she even got to meet some Spanish-speaking neighbors during her shopping excursion.
When they returned to Dr. A back at the hospital, she introduced them to a doctor as he was heading out for a boat ride with his wife. Spontaneously, he invited Dr. and Mrs. A to join him. “They agreed and had a blast,” she recalled. “I think that partially sealed the deal.”
Susan was networking using Doximity when she met Dr. B, who was completing his FMOB residency in Kansas City. He was looking for a full-scope FMOB practice with strong OB volume, and an employer who could sponsor him for a J-1 Visa. Originally from Brazil, he and his husband needed to find a friendly community where his family, which included his college-age brother, would thrive. The presence of a local college was a big plus, but Dr. B had concerns about living in a small town, especially whether his Portuguese-speaking spouse would integrate into the community.
When they arrived for their onsite, which occurred during a Polar Vortex, the executive director had a warm welcome waiting for them. She arranged for Dr. B’s husband to have coffee with people she knew in the community and shared resources like English classes. A physician opened their home to the couple and ordered takeout from a restaurant they were interested in trying. Afterward, she took him on a brief college tour.
“It’s important to give equal attention to the spouse and address their concerns as thoroughly as we would the physician’s,” she advised. “We want the spouse to be just as happy in the community as the physician is working here, so I was very honest about living in a small town and the realities of Midwestern winters.”
Because of her concierge service, the entire family was confident their small town had everything to offer. And about those winters? “They said it was a winter wonderland,” she responded.
Since Susan was making such great traction with the Jackson Physician Search database, she used it to track down another FMOB physician who would appreciate the hospital’s comprehensive approach to obstetrics. When she called Dr. C, the green flags were flying. “He was very enthusiastic from the get-go,” Susan recalls, emphasizing that full-scope FMOB was very attractive to him, as was the OB volume. “He was so delightful. I thought he was ready to sign after our initial conversation.”
Susan forwarded his resume to the hiring team, who agreed with Susan’s recommendation and invited him to interview. One month later, Dr. C and his family were in town for their onsite, and once again, the executive director introduced the family to the town’s people, schools, shopping, and even took them on an Easter egg hunt, where they met local leaders and other families like theirs.
Dr. C left the interview excited to start working. As he did with the other candidates, the local physician on the hiring team discussed the offer, which included a resident stipend, during the interview, and sent it within 48 hours after meeting. Susan kept in close contact with him to keep things moving.
The multi-pronged, high-touch approach was a success: Dr. C signed a month later.
Despite a national physician shortage and a Polar Vortex, Susan recruited three providers with the skills and personalities to fit the hospital’s collaborative culture and small-town Iowa. She cast a wide net by refreshing ads every month, mining the Jackson Physician Search database, networking on Doximity, and opening the search to candidates who needed visa sponsorship. Before the first candidate visited, she coached the hospital on compensation benchmarks and interview strategy, and she stayed in close contact with each physician to keep offers moving.
Susan sees the win as a true team effort. “They exemplify what we describe as best-practice process. If I could clone them, I would!”
Those best practices include:
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