Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle recruitment methods have allowed the hospital to maintain a staff of approximately 1,300 and keep turnover rates two-thirds lower than the national average for physicians and nurses.
Chief Executive Officer and Administrator Paul Cade and Chief Medical Officer James Martin presented recruitment efforts and community impact updates to the Rotary Club of Columbus on Tuesday at the Lion Hills Center.
Cade told Rotarians nursing shortages and increased turnover rates for medical staff that has affected hospitals nationwide have not had as significant of an impact on BMH, which he credits to the local nursing programs at Mississippi University for Women and East Mississippi Community College. Currently, the hospital has a turnover rate of 8 percent, compared to the 24 to 30 percent average nationwide, Cade said.
“It’s difficult for everyone to hire more nurses,” he said. “We’re blessed to have MUW here because they have a great nursing school. EMCC has a great nursing school. So we’re able to recruit locally and hire those individuals.”
The hospital currently staffs about 100 medical personnel ranging from general practice physicians to specialized doctors such as urologists and cardiologists and about 1,200 other staff.
BMH is the largest regional hospital within the Memphis-based Baptist Memorial Health Care system, with 323 beds. It is the single largest employer in Lowndes County other than the Columbus Air Force Base, Director of Marketing Megan Pratt said.
To maintain recruitment to the hospital, Cade said it has integrated incentive packages for prospective employees to join BMH over its competition. Those include signing bonuses and relocation funds to make the transition to the hospital more appealing. There are also options for medical practitioners to move their private practices to the hospital with an “income guarantee” for locating on the grounds.
“We have quite a few that are employed at Baptist-Golden Triangle,” he said. “The other side is if you just want to go into private practice, we can do an income guarantee. Usually, it’s about a two-year income guarantee and they’re able to draw money from, and they don’t have to pay that money back to the hospital as long as they stay in the community.”
Martin added the hospital hires five to 10 new physicians a year, and the Graduate Medical Education program, a three-year residency course that puts college graduates into medical programs at the hospital, has pulled five graduates from the program since 2017 who are now practicing at Baptist.
“The program helps them decide what they want to do moving forward,” he said. “So, obviously, the purpose of the GME program is to provide physicians with medical education. But it also creates a pipeline physician to serve our community in the southern region.”
Aside from their recruiting efforts, the hospital also provided $16 million in 2022 in “community benefits” throughout the Golden Triangle through health fairs, patient education programs, mentoring opportunities for students in area high schools and donations, to name a few. The hospital also provides $66 million in charity care per year, Cade said.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
