BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Amid a steady stream of news about hospitals slashing budgets and cutting jobs, here's a twist: TriHealth wants to hire 400 people.
That's right. An aggressive recruiting program begins next week, complete with a market-wide advertising campaign, signing bonuses up to $3,000 for certain jobs and $500 bonuses to employees for referrals that lead to new hires.
TriHealth includes Good Samaritan, Bethesda North and Bethesda Oak hospitals. The recruitment drive, slated to run through December, is the biggest TriHealth has ever attempted.
The job openings vary widely, including cafeteria workers, physical therapists, lab technicians, nurses and information system specialists.
The need for high-profile recruitment reflects in part the blessing of low unemployment in Cincinnati. Faced with a job-seeker's market, hospitals have resorted to offering extra plums to attract workers.
"It's a very tight labor market, especially for hospitals. We're not alone in having more vacancies than usual," said Sandie Ferrigno, employee relations manager at TriHealth.
But the sheer number of jobs available at TriHealth also reflects the aftermath of a recent downsizing.
In June last year, the hospital group announced a 10 percent, $44 million budget cut that wound up eliminating about 400 jobs, mostly at the restructured Bethesda Oak facility. About half the eliminated positions were filled at the time.
But rather than simply lay 200 people off, most were transferred to other jobs within TriHealth that were held open when people resigned or retired. Once all the reshuffling settled down, TriHealth wound up with another 400 positions to fill.
"We're a smaller organization than we were a year ago," said TriHealth spokesman Jeff Blunt. "But we still have all these openings."
How to apply
More details about how to apply for TriHealth jobs will come out in the advertising campaign. Job seekers also can call TriHealth at 872-6996. Or, beginning sometime next week, they can pick up information -- even send a resume by e-mail -- through the "career opportunities" section of TriHealth's Internet Web site: www.trihealth.com
