“She laid out at the beginning how we will measure success at the end. She didn’t wait until the end to define what success is.”
In the News
Friday, March 13, 2009
Company growing on demand for temporary health execs
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Chris Newmarker Staff Writer
A Bloomington-based staffing firm is expanding by providing health providers with something they didn’t need as much until the present recession: a steady stream of executive-level workers to fill temporary roles.
Experienced Resources saw its revenue jump 119 percent between the third and fourth quarters of 2008 — just as the economic downturn deepened. The firm, which reported nearly $1 million in revenue last year, says it’s on track to make double that this year.
The company has worked with more than 20 organizations, including Robbinsdale-based North Memorial Health Care and Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services.
Experienced Resources officials say the business has grown because health providers are reorganizing staff and laying off workers, and they want to avoid hiring permanent executives.
It’s a symptom of a health care system that is struggling as more people delay elective procedures such as knee replacements and some patients are unable to pay for their care.
“Health care has gone through some major layoffs, and providers are asking employees to do much, much more with less,” said Mary Christensen, president of Experienced Resources.
Workers placed by the firm usually fill an executive position — vice president or higher — on an interim basis or handle short-term projects. They specialize in areas such as finance, technology, operations and human resources.
North Memorial, which cut nearly 400 jobs in December, found itself in need of an executive to handle negotiations with health insurers over the cost of services provided to their members.
Rather than hire someone to fill the post, North Memorial CFO Patrick Boran turned to Experienced Resources, which already had placed a temporary worker at the organization.
“It provided a resource that didn’t slow us down. Had we not done this and relied on less-experienced people, it would have taken longer and it certainly would have had financial consequences for North,” Boran said.
Experienced Resources provided North Memorial with Harlan Dahl, who handled insurance contracting work at Hennepin County Medical Center until his retirement in 2008.
After leaving his old job, Dahl’s retirement investments shrunk at the same time his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, so getting a few months of work filled a need for him, too.
“It worked out really well to have the added income from this position,” Dahl said.
Boran said there may have been a few cases over the years of North Memorial hiring an executive on a temporary basis, but there had never been a relationship with a firm providing a steady stream of executives until now.
“It’s a way to get more efficient. It’s a way to look at different models of how to provide the service without a permanent commitment,” Boran said. “And I think that’s valuable.”
Bruce Nielsen, president of St. Louis-based The Nielsen Healthcare Group, hopes there are more cases like North Memorial. His firm, which places temporary executives at health providers nationwide, has been making fewer placements as providers cut positions entirely.
“I think we’re making headway and some other firms are making headway introducing the concept. But there are still a lot of people out there that when they are in a bind, when they lose a key member of their staff, it doesn’t occur to them initially,” Nielsen said.
cnewmarker@bizjournals.com | (612) 288-2107