Amid nationwide staffing shortages in health care, Butler Health System is trying approaches old and new to recruit and retain staff.

BHS announced at the end of January that the system would roll back requirements on home host deductibles and coinsurance for 2022 on its applicable PPO healthcare plans for employees.

COO Tom Genevro said he felt the move would help differentiate BHS from other health care systems, and hoped it would help recruitment.

“In the midst of this past year, we were looking at the competitive labor market to see what are some changes to our benefits plan that we could consider,” he said. “Realizing that a lot of employers do have very high deductible health plans, we looked at the opportunity to make this change for the employees at Butler.”

Genevro said the move would cost the hospital system $2 million to support employee care.

“It’s not only a benefit to those existing employees, we anticipate that it will be a benefit that is seen in a positive light on the recruitment standpoint as well,” he said.

Staff shortages

In a statement, Ken DeFurio, BHS president and CEO, said BHS valued the service of its employees, especially during the pandemic.

“Our goal is consistent with our mission to retain and recruit the best talent in every aspect of our operations”, DeFurio said. “Currently, we are recruiting for a number of open positions at BHS, from technical support to functions with specialized needs at the bedside.”

Genevro elaborated that BHS currently has openings for “service positions, housekeeping, food service, technical positions, and clinical positions like nursing, nursing assistants and respiratory therapists.”

“Some of our most difficult-to-recruit positions are our service-related positions — housekeeping, as an example,” he said. “With service level positions like that, we’re not different from most organizations across the region and across the country. You can’t help but drive by any service-related business and see a ‘Help Wanted’ sign.”

Recruiting

Retirements have also contributed to staffing shortages. BHS’s reputation as a care provider has helped it keep up, Genevro said.

“We’ve been fortunate that for many many years, the employment market in this area has not been like it is right now,” he said. “It’s a little harder right now, but we’re still doing well in being able to do that.”

Recruitment, he said, tends to deal with filling open positions that are not already filled internally by people looking for a job transfer.

“Recruiting, to me, is from the outside, people who aren’t currently working at BHS,” he said. “We do have a lot of boomerang employees who maybe have left the health system and look to return because another opportunity has opened for them to return to.”

While actively recruiting new employees from within and without to fill roles, BHS also incentivizes existing employees to fill in.

“Depending on the area, while we are recruiting to fill some openings, we have incentivized staff with additional pay to pick up extra shifts,” he said. “Our staff has been great. We’re now in the second full year of a pandemic, and our staff continues to be just incredible in what they are doing from a standpoint of the care they provide, and many of them are picking up extra shifts throughout the week to help deliver the care that the community needs.”

Genevro reiterated that during the ongoing staff shortage, BHS’ existing staff has been “incredible,” and has avoided allowing the shortage to affect care.

“We’ve been able to fill our shifts, and the fact that our staff is stepping up and filling in any holes that we have, it’s really not noticeable to patients,” he said. “I’m taking it day by day. We’re trying to do the best we can day by day. I can’t predict how long this will last, and I never thought it would last this long.”

State funding

BHS is also slated to receive more than $1 million in state funding from House Bill 253. Spokeswoman Jana Panther said Butler Memorial Hospital is still determining how the $1,016,620 in funds, which on a statewide level are meant to help with recruitment and retention payments to direct care staff, will be used specifically.

“There are many details yet to be determined,” she said. “There are requirements (for) distributing to eligible staff, deadlines to distribute the funds and reporting requirements after distributing. Once all of those details are made available, we will act in accordance with the requirements of the bill.”