Network for Health:
Supporting PPMM Recruitment
PPMM Virtual Networking Toolkit:
Interview with Director of Talent Acquisition & Volunteer Services, Mel
Interested in learning more about why recruiting for health care staff is more important than ever? Check out our interview with PPMM’s Director of Talent Acquisition and Volunteer Services, Mel.
Our staff is PPMM’s greatest asset!
Join us in recruiting top talent for patient care
One of PPMM’s most significant challenges in health care right now is navigating the acute shortage of providers throughout California and Nevada. PPMM’s mighty Talent Acquisition team, led by Director of Talent Acquisition & Volunteer Services Mel S., has launched an impressive, multi-pronged search effort for excellent Patient Services staff to join the amazing teams in our 34 health centers.
Already the number of openings for health services specialist (HSS) staff has decreased by 80%, and the TA team has dramatically raised PPMM’s profile on job sites such as LinkedIn, attracting many more job candidates.
In this interview, hear from Mel about how her team is recruiting great people to work at PPMM.
Question: Can you tell us about the challenges our organization is facing, regarding the provider shortage in health care?
Mel S.: Absolutely. Nationwide, the health care field is grappling with a significant shortage of doctors, advanced practice clinicians, registered nurses, and medical technicians. Statistics show that the demand for health care services far exceeds the available workforce, there is intense competition for providers, and there are even more difficulties recruiting staff in rural areas.
For PPMM, the shortage isn’t just a number. It directly impacts our ability to deliver timely care to our patients because of the threat of short-staffing.
Question: What steps is the Talent Acquisition team taking to address these challenges?
Mel: This has been an affiliate-wide effort, with departments ranging from Patient Services to HR to Finance, making PPMM more competitive in the regional health care landscape. We've added great incentives like increasing compensation and developing clinician trainings that support hiring of new grads.
The Talent Acquisition team has intensified our recruitment efforts and launched a multi-pronged response: We have built greater brand-awareness, such as launching our new PPMM careers website. And we’re using social media, email marketing as well as network-building through LinkedIn.
We’ve also increased outreach efforts throughout the U.S. to attract talent, and we recently attended big career fairs at CSU Bakersfield, CSU Stanislaus, University of the Pacific, and CSU Fresno, just to name a few.
Meanwhile, we’re building opportunities for college students and others to meet directly with our recruiters. Our monthly PPMM Careers Webinar has been quite a success!
We also refreshed our job application process to be more user-friendly, revamped our interview process to be faster and streamlined, and tightened up hiring times because we want to provide exceptional experience for job candidates and for our health center staff.
Recruiting top talent isn’t just about filling positions. It’s also about safeguarding the quality of care we provide to our communities. With the provider-shortage crisis, it’s so important that we continue to bring in skilled and compassionate clinicians now while building transformational relationships that help us to plant the seeds for future hiring.
Question: How can supporters help in supporting recruitment efforts, considering these challenges?
Mel: Supporters have a unique opportunity to make a direct impact. PPMM supporters’ community influence, including their personal and professional networks, can play a key role in helping us find great people to join our team.
By spreading the word about our recruitment efforts, awareness about our job openings, and advocating for our organization, donors can help us connect with talented clinicians.
