There's Hope for Current Grads: Phoenix Hospitals Expanding and Hiring!

[MacMaster]

i'm still not even in nursing school but thought the below article from the phoenix business journal offers some hope for the new grads out there or those about to graduate (or those with experience looking to move to phoenix)! (the article does reference that there is still some reluctance to hire new grads, but i think change is afoot...)

help wanted: phoenix-area hospitals looking to hire 4,000

phoenix business journal - by angela gonzales

date: friday, june 17, 2011, 3:00am mst

valley hospitals have jobs aplenty, with about 4,000 openings currently available for qualified candidates.

[color=#1e79e9]abrazo health care [color=#1e79e9]abrazo health care, which operates five local hospitals, is gearing up to hire nearly 500 people this year to support its growth. the hospital system hired more than 200 people in may and now is looking to fill about 150 nursing positions, said guido de koning, vice president of human resources for abrazo.

de koning said it is difficult to find nurses with experience in the operating room and intensive care unit, as well as those who specialize in cardiology. experienced physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists also are in demand.

phoenix children's hospital plans to fill 200 positions this year to support growth. that's in addition to the 300 staff members who came from st. joseph's hospital and medical center when that hospital transferred its pediatric services to pch.

scottsdale healthcare needs to hire 2,000 people to replace retirees and others leaving the hospital. it's already hired 1,000 employees this year, said spokesman keith jones. all types of workers are needed, including clinical, nonclinical, entry-level, allied health and professional.

banner health, the state's largest health system, plans to fill 1,100 jobs by the end of this year, said spokeswoman nancy neff.

the new employees are needed to fill positions left empty by attrition as well as new jobs created to accommodate growth, she said-particularly at banner md anderson cancer center and banner medical group. banner has hired 2,375 people so far this year.

two new hospitals also are generating jobs in the local market. the orthopedic and spine inpatient surgical hospital in phoenix opened this week with 110 new employees, and officials there expect to hire 40 more as the facility ramps up this year, said beth long, the facility's human resources director. in addition, 250 jobs will be created when the peoria regional medical center opens next summer.

laurie liles, president and ceo of the arizona hospital and healthcare association, said hiring has been relatively stagnant since 2009. she is concerned that cuts to the state medicaid budget will damage the local health care industry.

"arizona hospitals can and should contribute to the state's economic recovery, but the continuing fiscal instability threatens our ability to do so," she said. "arizonans need financially strong hospitals they can depend on all day, every day."

de koning said abrazo is positioned for growth, which is creating a need for more employees.

abrazo recently opened a freestanding emergency department in peoria, north of its arrowhead hospital, and plans to open the west valley emergency center in buckeye in late july.

"that's part of our growth," de koning said.

and now that abrazo owns the arizona heart hospital and the arizona heart institute, the health system is expanding its cardiovascular services.

"new positions and growth are coming from that service line, which is why we have a few positions open in specialty cardiac nursing positions," he said.

abrazo also is expanding its occupational health services, creating a need for positions in that area as well, he said.

plans also call for expanding abrazo's research services, he said.

"we are developing a more formal program to grow the number of studies we are doing as a system," de koning said. "lots of studies traditionally take place in academic medical centers. in many cases, community hospitals don't participate in those studies very much. we are building our program where we will attract more of those studies."

don evans, who recently retired as ceo of [color=#1e79e9]banner baywood medical center [color=#1e79e9]banner baywood medical center in mesa, said new graduates are having a tough time finding hospital positions, but "hospitals still look for experienced nurses."

that's true, de koning said, but abrazo has a program for new nursing school graduates and hires about 100 nurses each year.

these new nurses participate in a 12-week orientation program where they are mentored by experienced nurses and attend classroom sessions in groups of 25 before being placed at an abrazo hospital.

"we started this program last year, when no one in the valley was hiring graduate nurses," he said. "all the graduates in the marketplace knocking on doors couldn't get in. there has been a huge interest and very grateful students."