Sanford Physician Recruitment teams up with Merritt Hawkins in search for physician for Sanford Health-Mountain Lake practice
Sanford Physician Recruitment of Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has teamed with Merritt Hawkins in a wide search for fill the family practitioner need at Sanford Health-Mountain Lake.
Deb Salava, Sanford Physician Recruiter, introduced a pair of Merritt Hawkins search consultants, Rick Novak and Sammey Mihos, to members of the Mountain Lake Area Foundation (MLAF) including Vern Peterson, Brian Harderr, Joyce Bucklin, Cheryl Hiebert and Kris Lalngland, during a get-to-know, break-the-bread time at Peacemeals Restaurant in Mountain Lake yesterday noon (Thursday, September 28). Also attending were retired Mountain Lake physician, Steven Harder; Anne Reese, administrator at The Good Samaritan Society of Mountain Lake-The Village/The Lodge and Josh Sammons of Windom Area Hospital.
Merritt Hawkins, based in Dallas, Texas, is the leading physician search and consulting firm in the United States and a company of AMN Healthcare. AMN Healthcare is the largest healthcare staffing company in the United States. Founded in 1987, they are nationally recognized as the experts in the field of physician recruitment and staffing, placing thousands of physicians, allied and advanced practice healthcare professionals nationwide. Novak and Mihos touted the capabilities of their team of 90 recruiters, as well as its dozen sourcing specialists, support staff and marketing.
As Novak stressed during the luncheon meeting, “Sanford is being pro-active in the search and we (Merritt Hawkins) want to find the right doctor for the community – not just one with a pulse.”
The health care professionals had earlier in the day taken a quick tour of the city and the local clinic.
And Dr. Harder inserted his own recruiting poster points. “Physicians in this type of situation can truly do what they are trained to do – be a family physician. As well, ‘on call’ is ideal. Local-serving doctors don’t usually have to go into the hospital during the night; there is coverage in the ER (emergency room) 24/7. Physicians, with or without a family, can really have a life here.”
The size of the community, and its location, are two of the biggest disadvantages, but the recruiters were encouraged to observe the multi-cultural diversity in local residents.
“Minnesota is one of the top three states in the nation in which to practice because of the lifestyle found in the state,” noted Novak. Harder emphasized that notation for the state, “A doctor can be able to practice medicine, form relationships and benefit and grow from a tight community.”
Continued Novak, “In the search, we share stories about the area – this area – and engage the spouse and families. We do a lot of digital engagement and have a database of 400,00 physicians.”
Salava inserted the Sanford Health idea of offering retention loans to candidates. “A recruitment receives ½ of that loan when they sign a contract and the other ½ when they begin employment. That loan is forgiven over ‘X’ number of years, determined by the individual contract.”
“It is a challenging; a timing thing. Across the country, there is a shortage of 90,000 to 200,000 physicians,” laid out Novak. “There is a deficiency of the number of primary care doctors as compared to those retiring. But, we hunt regionally and we hunt nationally. Our duty is to make that connection – that ‘match’ – with services provided and need – and the community.
