St. Luke’s Medical Center Staffing Increase Overview
PROJECT CONTEXT
In July of 2023, Advocate Aurora Medical Group (AAMG) received notice from St. Luke’s Medical Center leadership that they would like to add 14 rooms to the daily lines of service, increasing the anesthesia program to a 36 rooms run per day. They gave AAMG 5 months to complete this staffing increase. AAMG turned to ARK Staffing Solutions to both fully staff the new rooms and to have a PRN staffing pool available for W2 physician vacation coverage.
Solution:
ARK Staffing Solutions leveraged our extensive network of anesthesia providers to provide interim staffing coverage with us at this site; and, by January 2024, all new points of service were being met by our in-network partners and the referrals they provided. Today, ARK directly staffs 14-20 10-12hr ORs per day, Monday-Friday. This need is expected to continue through 2025, and the majority of contractors have secured long-term lodging in Milwaukee, in order to be fully committed for the duriation. This extensive temporary relocation is an unprecedented component of what’s necessary to fulfil a project of this scope.
How did it Work?
The leadership of ARK and the Regional/C-suite leadership of AAMG have developed a transparent, trusting relationship over recent years, and collaborated early on a plan to evaluate and accept over 25 active Anesthesiologists to cover this emergent need. Key components of this relationship are biweekly conference calls where ARK leadership meets with AAMG leadership to discuss logistics, candidates still in process, clinical and practical areas of improvements for active contractors, and to facilitate locum-to-perm conversions. ARK also directly manages the clinical schedule with administrative privileges on the site’s internal software, and has full oversight of the credentialing process with St Lukes’ Medical Staff Office and affiliated departments. All of these things work together to ensure the most integrative, managed solution for this ongoing need.
