Rural Primary Care Facility in Alaska
Case Study
Facility Details
• Primary care facility including a dental clinic, behavioral health clinic, small physical therapy department, laboratory, and pharmacy
• Over 100 employees
Healthcare Challenges
The healthcare center, serving the needs of a small, island community in Alaska, needed to fill open provider positions. Being in an island chain off British Columbia can make staffing more challenging for a few reasons.
Providers are less likely to want to relocate permanently. The healthcare practitioners must also have the necessary medical experience needed and feel comfortable working in a remote and rural location. Transportation logistics can prove difficult, with the island only being reachable by ferry, float plane, or private boat.
Solutions
The facility began working with Wilderness Medical Staffing in 2015. WMS assessed their needs in gaps of coverage to identify customized solutions that would help their existing permanent providers and their patients.
At that time, they had two openings available. The WMS team found highly qualified medical practitioners who would be a good fit for the needs of the facility and the community.
Both positions were filled with WMS locum tenens. These providers were both strong clinicians who were comfortable practicing medicine in a remote and rural location.
Results
The success of working with WMS caused the facility to change its overall staffing model. To cover provider leave, permanent changes, and fluctuating needs, they plan months ahead to have WMS providers scheduled to work when needed, while having permanent providers on-staff.
The locum tenens that WMS has provided have been such a success that, over time, the facility has added additional rotating locum tenens to work with their permanent staff. They have continued using WMS contracted locum tenens providers for several years.
This allows the community to enjoy continuity of care, since many WMS locums return year after year. It also helps to bridge the gap in the learning curve of the new providers.
Testimonial
WMS has been a great partner for the needs of this clinic. They have been reliable and dependable to work with. We had staffed with providers from larger agencies before we were introduced to WMS, and while that experience was reasonably good, there were misses with some of the providers sent to us. That hasn’t happened once with WMS. We appreciate working with an organization that truly understands the limitations and the challenges of practicing in remote Alaska. Thank you, WMS, for the role you play in Alaskan healthcare.
Staffing Requests
Whether you’re ready to partner with Wilderness Medical Staffing to bring highly-skilled and compassionate healthcare providers to your facility, or if you’d like to learn more about how we can meet your needs, simply fill out a Staffing Request form. A member of our team will be in touch soon to discuss your requirements.
STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Read about the incredible medical providers who work locum positions through Wilderness Medical Staffing.
Many rural healthcare facilities struggle to find good medical providers. At Wilderness Medical Staffing, we use our unique network of medical providers to find the right person for the job, so you can stop worrying about staffing issues and have more time to focus on your mission.
Many rural healthcare facilities struggle to find good medical providers. At Wilderness Medical Staffing, we use our unique network of medical providers to find the right person for the job, so you can stop worrying about staffing issues and have more time to focus on your mission.
Wilderness Medical Staffing (WMS) is a team of experienced staffing experts. We provide locum tenens staffing of physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. We specialize in placing excellent, compassionate providers in rural clinics, hospitals, and communities across the continental Northwest and Alaska.
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