Recruiting top physicians and administrators, as with many other aspects of healthcare today, has become more competitive and, in the case of Memphis, a greater challenge than some other cities face. However, recruiters have found that preconceived notions about the city and unfamiliarity with its hospitals and practices often can be overcome when candidates visit Memphis.
Jon McCullers, MD, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) and pediatrician-in-chief at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, says he sells three things beyond the actual position to physician recruits: the cost of living and housing, the great weather and easy commutes with little traffic. The cost of living and the low cost of housing are especially appealing according to McCullers because the school pays market salaries, so a physician in Atlanta is earning the same salary as a doctor in Memphis, but that dollar goes much farther here.
Like a number of other Memphis-area facilities, UT Regional One Physicians, a faculty practice group that is a partnership between UTHSC and Regional One Physicians, sometimes employs professional recruiters based in other cities to help find physicians, but it requires its recruiters to first visit the city.
In fact, Randy Sites, executive director of UT Regional One Physicians, enjoys telling the story about one recruiter who enjoyed her trip to Memphis so much that she brought her husband back for a vacation.
Sites says it’s important to learn in advance what is important to the physicians and their families before their visit. UT Regional One Physicians invests a lot in the experience, strategically selecting hotels, restaurants and places around the community that align with the family’s interests. He says tailoring the trips is important because physicians usually “feel comfortable with the job, so now it’s getting them comfortable with Memphis.” He also agrees that the housing options are a perk of Memphis living, with options that range from downtown living to completely different options not far from the city.
Meeting the need
Nationwide there is a shortage of primary care physicians, and groups like UT Regional One Physicians and Le Bonheur are not immune to the competition. They focus on making their open positions unique — whether that’s offering doctors more clinical research or leadership roles. Nearly 95 percent of the physicians at UT Regional One Physicians are teaching or have research involvement at UTHSC, giving doctors options in addition to route clinical work.
One way to meet the need for top physicians in Memphis is to make connections with the UTHSC students. Bonny Barnes is a student at UTHSC who will soon begin her family medicine residency in Memphis at Saint Francis. While the residency matching process is challenging, Barnes knew she wanted to stay in the region to be close to family and for her husband to stay at his current job. She interviewed at hospitals from Louisville, Kentucky, to Jackson, Tennessee and ultimately put Saint Francis as her first choice.
Barnes says the recruiting at Saint Francis made her feel like “part of the family,” adding that after her interview the physicians invited her and her husband to dinner.
McCullers is seeing more interest in pediatrics from UTHSC students as the physicians become role models for the medical students and generate interest for the students to go into PEDS specialties.
Le Bonheur has seen tremendous growth with just under 100 new faculty recruited in less than four years. The “purposeful expansion,” as McCullers explains, is an effort to create a nationally recognized hospital and meet the needs of the children in Memphis.
Chronic conditions associated with poverty are a big issue in Memphis, and more sub-specialists are needed to serve these patients. Pediatric endocrinologists and nephrologists are two examples of the focus areas at Le Bonheur, with the latter increasing from just a few physicians to now 11, and hiring a new chief, John Bissler, MD, who joined the team after working at Cincinnati Children’s. McCullers says recruiting nationally recognized talent like Bissler also creates positive momentum and awareness, so physicians are now calling him to inquire about positions.
An unexpected challenge in recruiting top talent is finding a job for a physician’s spouse. “When I recruit top-achieving physicians, their spouse is also usually specialized and hard to match here in Memphis,” McCullers said.
On the horizon
Sites is finding more experienced physicians interested in new positions as healthcare is rapidly changing and networks are cutting costs to keep up. He says some physicians are more concerned with the hospital administration and overall strategic direction when they interview with Regional One. So his office arranges meetings with administrative personnel as well as clinical staff. These meetings help gain the physician’s trust, and if they accept the position, they have a deeper understanding of the administrative side of the group.
Le Bonheur’s sights now are set on ramping up the pediatric cardiology program to create a nationally renowned center with specialties in transplants and heart failure. Part of this focus is to better serve the patients of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, who often develop heart conditions during or following their cancer treatment.
As healthcare continues to change, so do the methods of persuading the industry’s outstanding practitioners to provide their talents in Memphis.
RELATED LINKS:
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
