The Lasting Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Lasting Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physician and Provider Recruitment

By: Susan Motley, CAE Deputy Director, AAPPR

Where were you the first time you heard the words “COVID-19 pandemic?” We rarely know when history is made as we live it, but something about this outbreak in early 2020 felt different. Likely, because AAPPR members work in health care, you all heard the words before it was officially declared a pandemic by the WHO in March of 2020. It was becoming increasingly apparent that this virus was headed directly for front line health care workers, many of whom you recruited to your community. AAPPR salutes you and your teams for the tireless hours spent supporting your communities during this time. We have gathered a few stories to share with you to document this point in time, where we have all had to do things we may have never imagined. They all have one thing in common, and that is resilience.

Laura Screeney, CPRP, Director of Physician Recruitment at NewYork-Presbyterian, remembers exactly where she was the day that life as she knew it had changed for the foreseeable future. Laura had a busy spring travel schedule coming up and had just celebrated her March birthday. As she was looking at her calendar and making plans, she got word that the COVID-19 cases that had been steadily growing were starting to surge at an alarming rate. As the hospital leadership went into emergency planning mode, Laura and her team did as well. Figuring out how they could best use a recruitment team’s unique skill set to everyone’s advantage, they became the immediate nerve center and point of information for staffing up to handle the increase in patients. As Laura puts it, her recruitment department went from being “behind the scenes to projected onto a jumbotron overnight.”

Laura points out that physician and provider recruitment is not a system known for speed. However, her leadership empowered her team to “knock down walls and silos” to get the job done. They were quickly able to credential or cross-credential 700 physicians to accommodate the surge. However, their job did not end there. Laura and her team also assisted with travel arrangements, meals, housing, transportation, and many other details. They had alumni and volunteers from all over the United States coming to New York to assist. Everything you would normally do in an onboarding cycle was now done in no time, over the phone, and via email.

Laura credits the leadership of NewYork-Presbyterian for creating a culture where all employees felt empowered to do whatever it took to do the right thing for patients and their families. Daily town hall style communication, also available on demand, ensured that everyone was getting their news from the top, not the media. The New York community rallied around front line health care workers to boost morale. Laura set up additional self care measures for her team that included daily messages of positive news.

Laura was reminded of the value of AAPPR when messages flowed in from across the United States as members, some of whom she has never met, sent their thoughts and well-wishes. She shared them with her staff to help them feel supported. Now, as the pandemic has spread across the country, they are paying that forward by sharing successes and best practices that they learned during the pandemic and patient surge. Laura says, “People go into health care for a reason. There is a calling there to take care of people. The same is true for the AAPPR community. There is a reason why we do what we do. We are transforming health care in our communities.” The importance of AAPPR and a network of trusted colleagues is something that Laura will never forget.

Meanwhile, on the west coast of the United States, Sarah Bohde, CPRP, of Kaweah Delta, in Visalia, California, found herself in the middle of an early COVID-19 virus hot spot. When we reached out to her about what had changed for her in her role as a recruitment professional since the pandemic, her response was, “What hasn’t changed?”

In Sarah’s own words, “It’s been such a whirlwind the past several months, and there have been many key moments throughout that have caused me to reflect on how life has changed as a physician recruiter. Travel was such an integral part of our recruiting plan. It was immediate that conferences and career fairs were dropping left and right after months of planning. In turn, I had to cancel multiple events scheduled for 2020 quickly. I had just returned from a career fair in New York when the wave of COVID-19 hit the city. Shortly after, we learned that COVID-19 had come to our area in full force. We have remained the highest hot spot in California for COVID-19 throughout the course of the pandemic, which has presented countless recruitment challenges.”

Something that all recruitment professionals have faced is the cessation of in person interviews and site visits. While they could not stop recruitment activities, an important question remained. Would a physician accept a health system position where they could not visit their presumptive working environment or community? That is when inspiration struck for Sarah and her team.

Sarah has a close friend who works in real estate, and a recruitment idea came to her when she was randomly looking at new model homes online. Says Sarah, “The tours

of the houses were interactive, and you were able to see the house as you ‘walked’ through by clicking the ground and moving to the next room in real-time. I presented this idea to my director, who immediately ran with it. We are currently working with a production company to provide virtual components of the hospital and the community! Not only that, but our GME residency program director has also been involved in this as we enter into interview season for our residents. Some of the unique ways we have worked to assist the physicians we recruit are by offering virtual interviews and virtual community tours. We partner with realtors who have recorded areas around town, and some will even FaceTime the physician for an interactive tour, thousands of miles apart.

Additionally, since physician candidates are trying to limit exposure by traveling unnecessarily to our area, even for house-hunting trips, I assisted a physician by entering a home she was interested in, and FaceTiming her, so she could see what it looked like. I know that others will echo this, but the most significant change our team made was the structure of our work schedule and how we interviewed candidates. We learned that working and interviewing remotely was still producing results, and we expect to continue these approaches in the ‘new normal.’

As Sarah reflects on lessons learned, she reiterates that COVID-19 has affected all of us. It has caused anxiety and fear, panic, and stress – for our own health, our loved ones, our jobs. Says Sarah, “The uncertainty of the future has allowed me to appreciate the present. Because of COVID, I have learned that my work truly makes an impact. I watch the physicians I recruited and partner with work endless shifts to provide care for our community who have been affected by this virus. The very ones I toured in the hospital and chatted with on those prescreen calls are now jumping into PPE and risking their lives every day. I have seen our hospital come together and fight this virus in unity, and I learned that nothing would stop Visalia. I’m grateful to have played a small part.”

Meanwhile, COVID-19 was impacting rural areas too. As a provider recruiter for a community hospital in western Massachusetts, Logan Ebbets, CPRP recalls when she knew that her life as a recruitment professional had changed.

“It was March of this year, and it was a culmination of two important things. March and April are two of the busiest months for recruitment professionals (and one of my favorite times). As the days ticked away in March, slowly, more and more conferences that I planned to attend started to cancel. Then in mid-March, I received 24 hours’ notice that we would be transitioning to remote work until further notice. Before that, I was scheduled to attend four conferences, and we had six site visits all on the calendar for that month. In addition to that, I was prepping to speak at AAPPR’s national conference in April. My calendar was wiped clean in the course of a week, all conferences canceled or postponed, and all site visits transitioned to virtual visits. A part of me is still reeling from this and missing the lost networking and professional development opportunities.”

Logan realized how much work for recruitment professionals focused on in person, face to face infrastructure. When the ability to do that was eliminated at the pandemic’s height, she realized her job would never be the same or feel the same. Her team would have to figure out new ways to make meaningful connections virtually with colleagues and candidates. This challenge highlighted cultural changes needed in her health system to expand their available tools to accommodate the immediate change.

Before the pandemic, Logan proposed transitioning to e-signatures for many recruitment related documents, but it never came to fruition. Logan says, “Suddenly, when we were all working from home, I dusted off that workflow and said, ‘Here you go, we can keep things moving.’” Specifically, it allows Logan to obtain e-signatures on offer justifications and letters of intent. Pre-pandemic Logan would walk all over the hospital to get multiple signatures on these documents. Logan knows that for process improvement gurus, this would be considered waste. But now, it has been a remarkable improvement and something they will continue to use moving forward.

On the subject of self care and managing stress, Logan shares that she was set to close on her first home at the end of March, which added to her stress level. Her strategy was to build mandatory breaks into her calendar to get up and walk and take a break from her computer screen. She points out that, when you work from home, the lines blur between home and work so it is imperative to set up some boundaries. Logan is lucky enough to have a horse and instituted mandatory barn time every afternoon after work, which helped her maintain a work-life balance.

Says Logan, “This experience has confirmed I never want to work 100% remote. When it was safe to do so, I transitioned back to being on-site at my hospital halftime. I am now in the office three days a week and home two days a week, and it’s a great balance. Re-establishing a routine has been beneficial. Having a reason to put on real pants has been a great motivator. Recently, I have been struggling

with some burnout. Mostly, the normal opportunities I have to travel and get away are eliminated, so I have found myself living in the responsibilities of work and life full-time, which becomes a lot after a while. I recently booked a short hotel stay over Vermont’s border to get away and recharge for a few days. I am looking forward to that.”

Logan’s most significant lesson learned that she will carry forward in her career is that “NOTHING is guaranteed. Nothing. You can plan to the best of your ability, but you better be able to rip that plan down and switch gears with zero notice. I think as recruiters, we are good at doing that anyway. I never forget at my first AAPPR conference Laura Screeney talked about how as recruiters, we continuously have to modify and adjust. That has stuck with me. And I think over the last few months, we have had to live up to that entirely. From March to June, we had to transition to altogether virtual interviewing and onboarding. In June, we allowed Massachusetts residents to come on-site, then in July, we let out of state candidates come on-site with restrictions. Then in August, Massachusetts came out with new travel guidelines that put even more restrictions on how we can conduct interviews. It’s been stressful; I have had to continually stay up to date on the ever-changing guidelines. But at the end of the day, I still had to prove my worth, and I still had to source candidates and fill positions. You have to be resilient. I will take that resiliency with me throughout the rest of my career. If I can find a way to be successful through a pandemic, I can genuinely figure anything out.”

Meanwhile, in the middle of the United States, Christy Ricks, MHA, CPRP, Senior Director of Provider Recruitment at LifePoint Health, was on a cross country spring break trip driving from her home in Tennessee to visit family in Oklahoma. Before setting out, things were already changing for her and her team at work. They had begun working from home, but there had been no stay at home order, and Tennessee had not declared a state of emergency.

That changed on March 13. As she was making her way back home, she noticed things changing from when they set out: grocery stores with empty shelves, closed restaurants, and shuttered hotels. This reinforced for Christy how real the pandemic was, and she mentally prepared for what she faced once she returned to her home and work.

Half of Christy’s team already worked remotely, and everyone was set up to do so. In February, she had upgraded her team’s technology tools, so in March, they were ready to go when the pandemic hit. They had all of the tools they needed, which helped them hit the ground running. LifePoint did not experience a slowdown in recruiting. She was pleased with her team’s ability to adjust and keep up with the workflow.

Christy mentions that her team is empowered to do what they need to do. Their multi-generational leadership at LifePoint “has some very different ideas about where and how work gets done. However, now that everyone can see that ‘We aren’t making widgets;’ this is people work, we have built trust. Our leadership understands that we have to be available when the people we are working with are available and believes that moving forward, this can be a successful model. We plan to review our return to the office policy in the near future.” To keep the team camaraderie going, Christy has done more one on one connecting with her team, recapping highs and lows, wins and inspirations, and they have all found new connection points. “There is value in making connections and keeping them, something I missed when the AAPPR conference canceled for April,” says Christy. “It can be hard to accept these necessary changes, but the value of AAPPR for me is that those connections are still there. I am ready to get back to whatever our new normal is! My hope for all of us is that we can appreciate the small things and realize that we may not need all of the things we thought we did.”

Christy says the most significant change they made that they plan to continue post-pandemic is virtual interviews. They have been able to hire providers that never came on-site. Armed with iPads and other technology, the team created a virtual experience for the candidates and says they will now adopt this as part of their process. Their sourcing volumes are at record-breaking levels, and they are experiencing double-digit growth. Having a virtual interview process is allowing them to keep up with the volume.

James Marfield is the Associate Director for Veteran Health Administration’s (VHA) National Recruitment Service. His most vivid takeaway of the pandemic is the sense of duty Christy mentions above. James was in day one of a brand-new leadership role when the impact of COVID-19 hit the VHA System. They had to cease normal operations supporting mission critical physician and provider recruitments across VHA’s 1,200 sites of care and immediately pivot to a new contingency operation. Their team immediately went into full sourcing mode.

Something unique to VHA is that they have access to retired VA physicians and nurses. His team contacted them and asked them to come back to work. A key benefit of doing so is that the providers would be allowed to collect the retirement pension and their salaries, something

normally not allowed for federal employees but waived during the pandemic. This produced thousands of leads, and in short order, his team had to go into triage mode to handle the influx. James believes it is the culture of that sense of duty and willingness to serve that produced overwhelming results and more supply than demand. For two months, his team was full speed ahead, adding 4,853 providers to their ATS with their team of 18 national healthcare recruitment consultants.

The team had to create workarounds and onboard providers in as little as three to six days as opposed to the usual 100 days it can take in the VA System. Says James, “It showed the agency leadership what can happen when you cut red tape. There is now a workgroup looking at how to implement some of those workarounds permanently, and we hope to never return to 100 days.” James credits his team’s success to the culture of service at VHA. His team is mission-minded, and VHA attracts the mission-minded. It showed him that humanity still exists in the providers who eagerly wanted to return to service and how resilient the recruitment profession is. James states, “Honestly, I learned how agile we could be and how talented my team is. It got hectic, but we handled it. I am so proud of our dedicated team.”

Resilience and professional development were at the forefront for Aisha DeBerry, MBA, PHR, SHRM-CP, CPRP, Atlantic Group Director of Physician and Provider Recruitment at Bon Secours Mercy Health. In March, when the COVID-19 lockdown left Aisha with some personal downtime, she decided to use the opportunity to add professional development skills to her recruitment professional skill set. Aisha, an AAPPR board member, recalled her interest in the Fascinate Advantage Program she experienced at last fall’s AAPPR leadership retreat. It’s a tool that helps people identify and build on their communication style and enhance their personal branding. Aisha committed to the training program and became a Fascinate Advantage Certified Advisor. Aisha put her new skill to use in AAPPR’s Mentor Match program. Aisha specifically reached out to AAPPR members through this platform to match with mentees who had experienced COVID-19 related job loss.

Aisha is passionate about helping others grow professionally. She believes that “everyone has something to teach, just as everyone has something to learn.”

Aisha turned that philosophy on herself. Aisha works for a community hospital system with a large presence in Richmond, VA, where she could see that the pandemic was disproportionately hitting Black and Hispanic communities. Furthermore, in addition to the pandemic, her community was also dealing with the impact of civil unrest following the death of Gorge Floyd in May. Aisha says, “During this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, I found my voice. I decided that it was important for me to use my voice to address the issues that impact Black and Brown communities, particularly as it relates to health care equity, recruiting a diverse physician and provider workforce, and the importance of having a diverse board of directors and leadership team within my association (AAPPR). As a result, I was invited to share my insight and be part of a national panel discussing these issues and have been able to inform my leadership of key issues with diversity, equity, and inclusion. My goal is to continue this conversation with my colleagues in AAPPR and for us to realize the power of our voice in these issues.”

Aisha’s biggest takeaway from the pandemic is to not be afraid to be authentic and transparent. “You can help others that way. Don’t be afraid to use your voice. Racial disparity is a fact – don’t be afraid to speak your truth.”

In addition to collecting these personal stories, AAPPR conducted an online survey to hear directly from members on what had changed for them in their daily lives as recruitment professionals. While the data shows differing paths of those who were furloughed, stopped recruiting, or were pressed into leadership roles they may not have been able to imagine, the threads of commonality are adaptability and resilience. Mentorship has grown. All agree that this has been a time of great personal and professional reflection.