A year into the pandemic, with COVID-19 cases still surging, doctors and medical staff have been facing physical and mental burnout. The huge demand for skilled and expert healthcare staff has boosted the shouldering healthcare services market viz., healthcare staffing.
GetMed Staffing is one such company that has been helping healthcare organizations bridge the talent gap since before the pandemic. GetMed works with medical facilities including acute care hospitals, LTC/Rehab facilities, and outpatient clinics across the country in need of contingency nursing staff.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company went far and beyond to meet the demand for healthcare workers. In the interview given for the latest edition of Insights Care, Linda Hotchkiss, CEO, and Owner of GetMed Staffing shared her experience during the pandemic.
“I have never been prouder to be in the medical staffing field than during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she says, “As our nurses were being deployed, we truly felt we were making a positive impact on the critical demand for healthcare workers in crisis areas. We cannot thank our travelers enough for the sacrifices they made this past year.”
Keep reading the interview further to know how under Linda’s leadership GetMed Staffing is making an impact in the healthcare sector through their efforts and expertise.
Please brief our audience about GetMed Staffing, its values, vision, and mission.
GetMed Staffing is a rapidly growing medical staffing agency in Omaha NE. We are women (63%) and minority (63%) owned. Before forming GetMed, the founding partners all had success in different business niches including healthcare administration, commodities trading, banking and finance, and franchise ownership.
The culmination of these experiences brought together a unique team, equipped to face, and overcome the challenges that come with starting a new company. Our core values are simple yet imperative to all our operational decisions: Quality, Excellence, Integrity.
Brief us about how you have set yourself apart from the competition through your expertise in healthcare staffing?
I joined the GetMed team with over 16 years of industry experience, with roles including Nurse Recruiter, Client Marketer, Account Manager, and Branch Manager. I was involved with several committees including Quality, Assurance, and Compliance. I have drawn from all these positions in building the GetMed structure, taking the best of what I learned and adapting our processes to create something better.
What sets GetMed apart from our competition is our highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce. Every GetMed recruiter has extensive industry experience, ensuring our candidates and clients are working with experts in the field.
Brief us about your journey in the healthcare industry.
I am one of the owners of GetMed Staffing. My previous jobs held in the healthcare industry include supporting staff of RN Case Managers at Mutual of Omaha, working as a medical transcriptionist for Immanuel Medical Center, and then joining a local medical staffing company in 2002. I spent more than 16 years working for the latter and learned to love this fast-paced, unpredictable industry. I am a people person and enjoy the lifelong friendships made with our travelers.
Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on how the adoption of modern technologies in the healthcare discipline has transformed the industry and what more could be expected in the near future?
Telehealth has created unique opportunities in the healthcare space, for providers, nurses, and individual patients. Getting healthcare safely to as many people as possible was an absolute necessity during the pandemic, creating extremely fast growth for this sector.
Telehealth is especially vital in the treatment of mental health patients, providing faster, accessible care for this vulnerable patient population. Telehealth will continue to grow even as the pandemic slows as patients have become accustomed to the process, which will continue to create new opportunities for the healthcare staffing industry.
Taking into consideration, the current pandemic, and its impact on global economies, how are you driving your company to sustain operations and ensuring the safety of your employees at the same time?
During the pandemic, our team did a very good job diversifying our client base. We did not focus solely on crisis rate positions, which has helped position ourselves to adapt as the market begins to normalize. We were also very diligent about compensating our travelers for quarantine/COVID pay.
For in-house staff, when the pandemic started in March 2020, we were able to quickly mobilize our team to be able to work from home without any disruption in workflow or production. As we returned to the office, safety guidelines were put in place to protect the safety of all in-house employees.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the healthcare sector?
Do your research and choose your partners carefully. And love what you do. If you don’t have a passion for the industry, you will likely burn out quickly – the long hours go by fast if you love what you do.
Where do you envision your organization to be in the long run and what are your future goals?
Our vision is to continually grow into a mid-sized company while maintaining our high-end talent pool and positive team environment. GetMed will be the gold standard to which our competitors will be measured.
