Access to Talent: True Story

Midwest Medical Group, LLC is a privately owned Cardiology Practice consisting of 12 cardiologists. Five of the physicians practice in an Elkhart Office located adjacent to Elkhart General Hospital and 7 in a new Mishawaka Office, adjacent to Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center. The practice provides services to the adult population and is able to do testing in their own facility, including Echoes, Vascular Studies, and Nuclear Stress Testing, holters/monitors etc. (More complete information on their physicians and services can be found on at www.TheHeartExperts.com.)

With the loss of a switchboard operator and some internal restructuring, Midwest Medical Group needed an option that would keep the workload handled while allowing them time to make the best future staffing decisions. Business manager Mary Jo Kubiak works closely with the managers of both office locations to assist with screening and hiring needed. Having called Personnel Partners twice previously for temporary help in covering front desk responsibilities, Mary Jo now chose to ask for a temporary employee qualified to handle the switchboard and to assist with medical records. With these functions covered, Midwest Medical Group would be able to properly assess whether that would become a full-time position or whether the need could be filled with members of its own internal staff.

Because of the anticipation of possibly finding a temporary worker who could be later asked to join the staff, Mary Jo asked for the option to meet our recommended candidates before they began the assignment. Her intention was to help identify someone who might fit the organization long-term before even beginning in a temporary capacity. Personal demeanor and interactions with others during the interview process are key factors to Mary Jo as she assesses a candidate's possible contributions to the practice. She relied on Personnel Partners to have already confirmed the skills and experience needed to do the functions of the job.

An initial choice started out working well, but was found to be violating a personal phone usage rule of the office. Mary Jo asked that the employee be terminated, and was pleased that this was done with little fuss and a qualified replacement selected quickly. At the time of this writing, Midwest Medical Group was pleased with the access to talent that is right in front of them and giving them options as they set their staffing plans.