Southcoast Health Engages ShiftMed's Supplemental Workforce Solution to Optimize Hospital Labor Needs

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Mar 21, 2024, 09:00 ET

The partnership will enable the New England health system to staff hard-to-fill clinical shifts through ShiftMed's Scheduling Platform

MCLEAN, Va., March 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ShiftMed, the leader in workforce scheduling technology, has announced its exclusive partnership with Southcoast Health, a prominent healthcare system serving Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. This new initiative will begin providing CNAs for hard to fill shifts at Southcoast Health's three hospitals: Charlton Memorial in Fall River, St. Luke's in New Bedford, and Tobey in Wareham, Massachusetts. It represents the latest in a series of efforts by the community health system to support its workforce and ensure optimal staffing for patients.

Local healthcare professionals will now have the opportunity to pick up open shifts at each hospital that current staff are unable to fill, through the ShiftMed platform, introducing an innovative staffing solution for the region's healthcare workforce. ShiftMed's user-friendly interface enables healthcare workers seeking more flexible work schedules to select assignments according to their credentials, preferences, and availability.

As a result, all three of Southcoast Health's hospitals will gain access to a flexible and dependable pool of highly qualified healthcare professionals to augment the efforts of its current workforce, thereby providing even greater quality care to patients.

"We're delighted to launch this partnership with ShiftMed as part of our continual efforts to bolster our clinical workforce and provide opportunities for local CNAs looking to have greater ownership over their work schedules," said Lauren De Simon Johnson, Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer for Southcoast Health. "By leveraging ShiftMed's robust scheduling technology, we expect to benefit from improved operational effectiveness that will preserve the hospitals' day-to-day operations, alleviate the challenges of filling open shifts on short notice, and enhance patient care."

The collaboration marks the beginning of a larger initiative, with plans to extend the partnership to additional Southcoast Health facilities and other roles later this year.

"ShiftMed's flexible approach to workforce management provides Southcoast Health's three hospitals with immediate resources to address the ongoing clinical workforce shortage," commented Todd Walrath, CEO & Founder of ShiftMed. "Our solution provides Southcoast with a seamless transition onto our platform and offers its workforce an additional layer of support, particularly in handling last-minute callouts and the inherent unpredictability of healthcare staffing."

To learn more about how ShiftMed is providing workforce solutions to health systems, please visit www.ShiftMed.com

About ShiftMed:
Healthcare facilities are addressing staffing needs and reducing overall expenditures with ShiftMed, which combines innovative workforce technology with the largest W-2 workforce marketplace. ShiftMed connects over 2,000 healthcare facilities to 350,000 credentialed nursing providers and gives facilities the ability to manage an entire workforce ecosystem more efficiently in one platform. For more information, visit www.shiftmed.com.

About Southcoast Health

Founded in 1996, Southcoast Health serves communities across southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island as the largest provider of primary and specialty care in the region. The not-for-profit, charitable system includes three acute care hospitals in Massachusetts – Charlton Memorial in Fall River, St. Luke's in New Bedford (a Level II Trauma Center), and Tobey in Wareham, with a physician network of more than 675 providers.

The system has established more than 55 service locations across the South Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including six urgent care locations, a Visiting Nurse Association, the Southcoast Health Cancer Center, the region's only Level II Adult Trauma Center and numerous ancillary facilities.

Southcoast Health has been recognized consecutively for six years in a row as a Newsweek's World's Best Hospital from 2019-2024 and named a Maternity Care Access Hospital for 2023-2024 by U.S. News & World Report. The organization was additionally recognized as the best place to work for the sixth consecutive year by Southcoast Media Group's community choice awards.

With upward of 7,500 employees, Southcoast Health is the largest employer in southeastern Massachusetts, and one of the largest employers in the Commonwealth, according to the Boston Business Journal. More information is available online at www.southcoast.org.

SOURCE ShiftMed