In the world of horticulture, Kudzu is a fast-growing vine with many tendrils. In the world of employment, Kudzu Staffing is a fast-growing company with numerous offices in South Carolina and Georgia, serving the needs of a wide range of large and small companies.
Located in the Powdersville community, Kudzu Medical, a division of Kudzu Staffing, focuses exclusively on providing qualified, tested and fully-vetted employees to hospitals, clinics, physician practices and long-term care and residential medical facilities.
Kudzu Medical is headed by Operations Manager Stacy Bayne, herself a nurse with more than 25 years of experience in medicine, including managing medical personnel.
“I have a good perspective,” she said, “on both sides of this equation.”
Under Bayne’s leadership, Kudzu Medical has racked up an impressive level of success in providing both short-term and permanent staffers to employers seeking pre-screened, pre-qualified employees. As she explained it, prospective medical employees once thoroughly vetted become Kudzu Medical hires. Medical workers seeking a temporary-to-hire position remain on the Kudzu Medical payroll for 520 hours before a medical facility can hire them on their payroll at no additional fee. There are direct-hire options if a facility chooses to hire them before they meet the required 520 hours.
Bayne said Kudzu Medical regularly staffs jobs ranging from nurses to certified medical assistants, certified nursing assistants, phlebotomists and more. Other important jobs they fill include X-ray technicians, paramedics and medical administrative and billing staff. They provide employees for dietary and housekeeping positions in medical facilities as well.
“In essence, we serve as the human resources department for our clients, handling all of what that department would have needed to do, from recruiting to interviewing to the onboarding requirements, including drug testing and background checks,” Bayne said.
“We also work closely with area vocational schools and colleges to help students get their foot in the door to medical careers that they might not have been able to do on their own.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Bayne said, “It did affect our business. Most medical facilities weren’t hiring because of a cutback in services such as elective surgeries and also as a consequence of the rising use of telemedicine.” Then, about six months in, “the situation flip flopped. Some medical staff came down with the virus and had to be quarantined. Others left the field and were not coming back because of generous state and federal unemployment payments. Before the pandemic, we were averaging 55 to 60 employees a week on our payroll. Today we are averaging around 150.”
One important area of concentration for Kudzu Medical now is long-term care. The company has seen an increase in the need for providing PRN – as needed – staffing for long-term care facilities.
“Even the most upscale retirement communities are finding themselves in need of staffing for jobs in the assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing units. And that need is not going to change in the near term,” Bayne said.
For more information on Kudzu Medical, visit www.kudzustaffing.com.
By Bill Farley