Hiring healthcare providers during the pandemic, how has it been going?

Workers in the healthcare system have had a hard time in their career field. With some healthcare systems saying their workers are burnt out from the pandemic. Causing some providers to quit their jobs.

Even with those struggles in mind, Essentia Health held a job fair to try to recruit more workers. Essentia agrees that they’ve experienced a bit of a shortage in the summer. Chief Nursing Officer Rhonda Kazik says, “in all honesty yes, we felt that, but our staff stepped up into the challenges of the needs for our patients. And as long as we always stay focused on our patients we accomplish great things."

Now more than ever health care systems are looking for more workers to help those in need. Chief Operations Officer Brad Beard says, “the pandemic has elevated the number of patients who need care. And so as we look forward we know that we are going to continue to need employees that care for all the patients.”

Essentia knows that there could be apprehension in new hires due to the pandemic. Kazik explains saying, “because it doesn’t end when they go home. You used to be able to separate the two but a whole situation of our pandemic is in home and at work. So they are giving all their time and we recognize that."

But overall Essentia was surprised at how many new applicants came to the fair ready to work in the medical field. "We have such fabulous clinicians who are dedicated to supporting their patients whether that be our clinicians, physicians, or everyone. Because this fair represents all people who come together to make it work”, says Kazik.