We only do therapy staffing? - Big Deal!

 

I must look like a really generous guy.  I got another call today from a non-therapy staffing company that wants advice on getting into the travel therapy business. 

The current economy, and the accompanying loss of jobs, has a lot of people looking for industries that are "recession-proof".  Many people are under the impression that healthcare is one of them.  And within the healthcare staffing industry in particular, therapy staffing seems to be regarded as the strongest segment right now.  As a result, we're seeing nurse, tech, and even non-medical staffing companies jumping into our industry.  Some of these companies have large advertising budgets, slick brochures and websites, and commission-driven salespeople that can make them look pretty well established.

I "jumped in" to travel therapy staffing in 1989.  Back then, it wasn't too hard - this was before online recruiting, PPS, JCAHO, and Medicare fraud allegations against rehab providers.  We just ran an ad, treated our therapists with respect, and our clients loved us.  Over the years, we've weathered many storms, sometimes even by temporarily "jumping in" to other healthcare specialties such as travel nursing.

But I never left therapy staffing.

At Skipstone, we work only with travel PTs, PTAs, OTs, COTAs, and SLPs.  Now, and for the foreseeable future.  We aren't here because the travel nurse business is down, or because our medical office staffing business has seen a drop in revenue.  We are here because I founded this company with the belief that rehabilitation therapists are the most valuable, and professional, people in our healthcare system today.

If you are a travel therapist, you probably spent a lot of time, money, and effort to become qualified in what you do.  It stands to reason, I think, that you should expect the same from the people you trust to take care of you.  You should expect that your recruiter understands how your skills and training will fit into various practice settings.  You should expect that your company has fair contracts with the best clients where you will have a great assignment experience.  And you should expect that, in the event that something doesn't go exactly as planned, we will try our best to work for a positive outcome every time.

If you are trying to decide which company to trust, ask yourself this - when the nurse staffing market becomes "hot" again, how interested will some of these companies be in keeping you happy?  Or, if the going gets a little tough in our business (hey, who knows what the future holds), how long will it take some of these companies to go chasing after the next staffing specialty that seems more profitable to them?  Then ask yourself, is there value in working with a company like Skipstone - a company that will always rely on our abilities and relationships in therapy staffing? 

I know the answer.  That's why we're here.

I'll close with another reminder of Skipstone's three guiding principles, which we try to live every day:

           Work with great people.                        

           Mean what you say.

           Stick together.                                  

Thanks for being our customers, colleagues, partners, family and friends.  We look forward to a long and happy relationship!          

Alan