Catholic Charities New Hampshire has launched St. Jacinta Healthcare Staffing, a new staffing agency for nursing professionals seeking per-diem shifts and assignments statewide.
With its creation, St. Jacinta labels itself as New Hampshire’s first nonprofit health care staffing agency.
According to a news release from Catholic Charities New Hampshire, St. Jacinta is designed to respond to the increasing cost of care among New Hampshire’s skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes, particularly the growing expenses from relying on outside external agencies to fill staffing needs.
“There is a perfect storm hovering over New Hampshire skilled nursing facilities,” said Tracey Lane, executive director of St. Jacinta.
“Not only are they staring down a barrel of unfavorable reimbursement rates, deficits and negative margins, but the staffing dynamics are also shifting statewide. Among the shrinking talent pool, more nursing professionals are opting for higher flexibility and pay through staffing agencies, versus traditional direct hire roles. For nursing homes, this means more variability and uncertainty in aligning their staff with resident and patient demand.”
Lane said the result is more reliance on external staffing agencies.
“But every time you fill a shift with agency staff, a significant piece of that cost goes back to the employer agency,” Lane said. “These costs continue to add up, and over time, they will no longer be practical or sustainable. Establishing a nonprofit internal agency to serve a large network of care facilities is our proactive solution to the problem.”
Tom Blonski, President and CEO of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, called St. Jacinta a “creative solution.”
“Opening our own staffing agency and reducing our dependency on contract services will ensure we can best respond to the growing short-term and long-term health care needs of the state’s rapidly expanding elderly population,” Blonski said in the news release.
St. Jacinta offers per-diem shifts and assignments for Licensed Nursing Assistants, Licensed Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses and other health care positions at Catholic Charities’ skilled nursing facilities in Manchester, Laconia, Dover, Berlin and Windham. No minimum shifts are required.
Lane has experience connecting medical and nursing staff with employment opportunities. She was most recently a Talent Acquisition Partner for the Partnership for Successful Living, operating employee relations and the recruitment of medical and social service positions for the nonprofit collaborative.
“We want our staff to feel heard, respected and valued,” Lane said in the news release. “This is a unique opportunity to not only grow careers and learn from some of the best in the business, but also work for a nonprofit where staff is not aggressively recruited or owned by contracts.”
