2024 Lightning Talk: Triple R – Recruitment, Retention,Retirement Committee – Dr Barry Oberleitner, Creston Valley Hospital and Health Centre MSA
Supporting the physician career continuum
Eight members of Creston's Triple “R” Committee serve a a small and highly effective representative group of the larger medical community to support the physician career continuum – from recruiting new doctors, to supporting retention with a balanced work life, and aiding a flexible retirement.
The community serves 8,000 residents and includes a 20-bed hospital and 18 physicians working between three clinics.
Representing the medical community
The group include the MSA Chief of Staff, an MSA coordinator, a community recruiter employed by the City of Creston, and a physician member nominated by each clinic to represent their views. Together they collaborate on plans and two-way communication with the medical community.
Benefits of a smaller, more efficient representative group
• Time and space to delve into deeper topics.
• Division of tasks between one or two physicians who report back to the group.
• Meaningful conversations about difficult or complicated topics.
• Mutual respect even within differing opinions.
• Generally able to reach consensus and maintain cohesiveness for diverse group of physicians.
Impact: effective committee structure and focus
• Improving recruitment and physician placement.
• Securing the valuable semi-retirement of physicians, who are staying active to a degree in the community.
• Improving emergency room shifts and handovers.
• The creation of hospitalist groups.
• Further negotiations for ER APP contracts (outside of Facility Engagement).
Lessons and success factors
• A smaller, representative group is more effective and efficient.
• It is an ongoing work-in-progress to effectively communicate discussions and conclusions from the smaller group to larger group.
“The purpose of our committee was to form a small representative group for the larger group, so that we could discuss significant issues that affect physician retention. It also allowed us to find a way to balance the needs of physicians for a work life balance with the needs of the town for medical services.”
“Each clinic actually nominates which physicians they would like to have on this committee, and this allows each clinic to have the trust that those physicians are representing them and their wishes to the best” - Dr. Barry Oberleitner
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