Growing Parkview adds 300 jobs
By Sherry Slater | The Journal Gazette
Parkview Health is adding 300 new jobs to its local network, officials announced Monday.
Those are among 850 open positions at the nonprofit health care provider, which is looking for people to work directly with patients and behind the scenes.
Openings include jobs for registered nurses, LPNs, surgical technologists, medical assistants, cooks, housekeepers, administrative and clerical workers.
Hallie Custer, director of human resources operations and recruitment, pointed to expanding services to explain Parkview's growth.
Parkview Physicians Group recently opened an office on Lima Road, north of Dupont Road, for example. The building includes imaging and lab services, which are additions for that area, she said.
Additional physician offices with imaging and labs are in the pipeline, but officials weren't ready to provide details Monday afternoon. They revealed, however, that some of the new positions are tied to those expanded services.
“We want to try to speed up that access” for patients, said Jeff Rice, Parkview recruitment manager.
Physician recruitment is handled by a different department, so Rice didn't have data on how many new doctors are needed. But, he said, successful physician recruitment this year is another factor driving the need for support staff.
Parkview's hospital and home health care operations are also in need of more employees.
Rice said occupancy at the hospitals “is higher than it's ever been.”
Numbers vary daily, and he didn't know the percentages for Monday. But, Rice said, it's not unusual for Parkview Regional Medical Center to be at full capacity.
Despite the open positions, all eight Parkview hospitals are maintaining a 1-to-4 nurse-to-patient ratio, Custer said.
“I don't believe that patient care is suffering,” she said. “I believe our staff is working a lot harder.”
Filling the positions should ultimately save the system money because it will be paying less overtime, Custer said.
Parkview Health, already the county's largest employer, recently surpassed 11,000 employees. The 850 positions are in addition to that total.
Parkview spokeswoman Jessica Miller said 550 existing positions are currently open because of normal attrition, including retirements, promotions and resignations.
Average wages for all 850 open positions are $31 an hour, but that amount could be misleading, Custer said.
“Every job has its own salary range, and it depends on the candidate's experience,” she said.
Parkview employees who work 24 or more hours a week are offered benefits including medical, dental and vision insurance; paid time off; retirement plans; sign-on and performance-based bonuses.
For more information about Parkview's Nov. 2 hiring fair, go to the organization's website.
