Re: staff turnover

December 7, 2004

I don't have a turnover problem. We have all worked together for 20 plus

years. I have a staff of 10 PT's and OT's. We are private practice outpatient

and

contract to hospital, nursing home, and home health occasionally. I think the

key is flexibility as to when the therapists want to work as long as we see

the patients and address the needs of the clinic. Benefits also are important.

We have a profit sharing program, but that is not a given. When all the other

facilities in town are having staffing problems, we do not and I think the key

also is we don't have multi level non therapists making decisions regarding

our livelihood and all staff know the majority of the information which

directly affects our bottom line and takes it very seriously. Also, they are

always

willing to do what it takes to make our private practice survive the times.

Bubba Klostermann OT, CVE, CEAS

CEO, WORK & REHAB

4546 South 14 th

Abilene, Texas 79605

phone:

fax:

email: bubklo@...

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December 7, 2004

This is a very good question. I have been very fortunate. I have a

staff about the same size. We are in a small critical access, rural

hospital. Most of the therapists have been here 5-8 years. We don't

lure therapist with money. The administration makes our mission, vision

and values the focus for providing great patient care/experiences in

this organization. We use Baldridge standards as our model. On the

management side of the rehab department, I allow note time for

therapist. I protect them from burn out. We have a great education

plan. As a leader, I have the therapist work in tasks forces to solve

their own problems. This gives them ownership. Ownership builds

loyalty and great customer satisfaction. I hope this helps. If needed,

please don't hesitate to call. By the way, our mission is to be The

Best Rural Hospital in America...and we are well on our way.

Reynolds, MHS PT

Supervisor of Therapy Services

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital

x 179

reynolds.mary@...

staff turnover

I am interested in getting some feedback. I manage an Medical School

based outpatient therapy department and employ 2 occupational therapists

and 5 physical therapists. I am under new management and having trouble

hiring new staff and would like some input. Could I get an idea of how

often you have turn-over in staff (what is the average length of

employment of your staff), what is your patient diagnostic mix, do you

offer any hiring and retention packages, etc... Does salary play a part

in therapist turnover. Working for the state, I have difficulty raising

salaries.

Thanks in advance for your feedback,

Hall PT

UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas

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December 7, 2004

Hi ,

We have entered what appears to me to be a similar situation to that we

experienced in the mid 90's. At that time, the reimbursement model was

such that many clinicians flocked to highly paid nursing home positions,

abandonding lower paid hospital, and school based practices. They were

lured by large sign-on bonuses, comparatively high wages, and top notch

benefits packages. I know personally of many of my colleagues who's

departments were decimated by this. Of course we all know what happened

following BBA97.

Today we are experiencing the fallout from that legislation with

difficulty finding, hiring, and retaining therapists as we see smaller

graduating classes from fewer schools. While it appears to be self

correcting with full enrollment in many programs, we are currently in

the trough in many areas. I am hearing anecdotally from new grads that

they should not consider employment with an organization that doesn't

offer to pay off their student loans and offer a generous sign on

bonus.

While I currently don't have significant staffing issues in my

location, I know that in the greater Seattle area there are over a

hundred unfilled, hospital based therapy positions. Clearly the market

will need to adjust by either raising wages further or by restructuring

programs to eliminate the need. Unfortunately, the narrow profit margin

experienced by many hospitals limits options in this regard.

While painful, I believe this will be a comparatively brief period. As

we have seen with nursing, programs have expanded, classes have been

made larger, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My own

strategy is to ride it out until the pendulum swings back. The

consequences of changing hiring criteria, offering bonuses, and selling

the farm to attract a limited job pool has long term effects that will

be difficult to undo.

The average tenure in my department is about 6 years and ranges from

new grads to 25 years. We stay competitive with wages, offer a good CE

package, good benefits, retirement, and flex time scheduling with fairly

customizable shifts. My number one priority is to make sure the

therapists in my department have the technology they need, the

flexibility they want, the support they need to do their jobs, the

recognition they desire, and the job satisfaction that hopefully keeps

them from looking elsewhere.

Redge L MS OTR/L

Director of Rehabilitation Services

on Hospital

Bremerton, WA 98310

Administrative Assistant:

Wanda Kotte: wandakotte@...

>>> sandra.hall@... 12/6/2004 8:00:03 PM >>>

I am interested in getting some feedback. I manage an Medical School

based outpatient therapy department and employ 2 occupational

therapists

and 5 physical therapists. I am under new management and having

trouble

hiring new staff and would like some input. Could I get an idea of how

often you have turn-over in staff (what is the average length of

employment of your staff), what is your patient diagnostic mix, do you

offer any hiring and retention packages, etc... Does salary play a

part

in therapist turnover. Working for the state, I have difficulty

raising