In the three years since arriving in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the U.S. work dynamic, encouraging working from home on a large scale, presenting employers with the constant challenge of finding workers and engendering burnout and exhaustion in many sectors where there aren’t enough qualified people to fill the necessary positions.
To relieve this burnout in the health care sector, which has been affected more than any other area of the economy, Kudzu Medical in Anderson County is focused heavily on supplying nearly every type of health care staffing need to any Upstate medical provider at a moment’s notice.
“In the next 10 years, we’re expecting the health care staffing part of our business to keep growing,” said Stacy Bayne, a licensed practical nurse since 1996 and operations manager with Kudzu Medical since 2018. “And two main reasons are that everyone is aging, and the need for qualified, educated health care professionals will increase.”
As that need increases, so, too, will the way health care-related businesses will operate.
For example, imagine you are a health care administrator in charge of all personnel staffing and need to immediately hire a full-time registered nurse, a part-time pharmacy technician, a temp-to-perm radiologist technician, an administrative assistant, a medical biller and a six-month dietary aid with the condition that the position could perhaps turn into part-time or full-time.
One contact with Kudzu and these needs are almost certain to be met when you need them to be met.
“We can save you time and money by acting as middlemen to match qualified, trained candidates with a client/employer,” Bayne said. “Not all employers have professional recruiters in their HR Department, but many need people like us to supply short-term, long-term and flexible-term staffing.”
In the health care field, Kudzu Medical staffing includes: caregivers and certified nursing assistants.; licensed practice nurses and registered nurses; medical laboratory technicians; EKG technicians; certified medical assistants; phlebotomists; housekeeping and food service personnel; and medical administration and billing employees.
“We can even become an extension of a medical facility’s HR Department if needed,” Bayne said. “This includes rigorous hiring protocols, employee screenings and a satisfaction guarantee of accurate and quick placement of certified, tested and experienced candidates.”
She added that while health care staffing has always been a component of Kudzu’s business, it has mushroomed since 2020.
“During the height of the pandemic, we had as many as 200 employees on payroll each week – compared to 35 employees before,” Bayne said. “Now we average 45 to 50 employees each week.”
For the rest of the decade, this average is expected to either hold steady or increase.
If you need health care staffing in a hurry for any length of time, in small or large numbers, Bayne and her staff at Kudzu Medical can show you why they have been a trusted Upstate name since 2013.
“For me, it’s all about meeting a need – in this case, a medical need for job-seekers, health care clients and the facilities that care for them,” Bayne said. “And the health care staffing we can provide is always going to be necessary for all of them.
By L. C. Leach III