WVU Medicine/University Health Associates: Optimas Gold Winner for Vision

The poor and elderly often find themselves unable to access quality health care, a huge problem considering they’re among America’s most vulnerable people. In West Virginia they lack access to care, transportation and health professionals. WVU Medicine/University Health Associates sought to ease the suffering of those without the proper resources. In August 2015 it began an initiative to recruit a minimum of 70 new physician positions with its Physician Recruitment & Retention Program. To expand recruitment they implemented virtual career fairs, built partnerships with medical schools and developed a system wide marketing effort.

The firm also began monthly and quarterly meetings to partner with 19 specialized departments and improved its onboarding process, among other things. Since the initiative began, the firm has seen its highest number of physicians hired as well as the highest number of physician specialties. Through that, it was able to create the Heart and Vascular service line program and Critical Care signature line, which will become a statewide Comprehensive Stroke Program. In 2015, 70 new physicians were hired. To date, 85 physicians have been hired in 2017.

Annette Belcher, senior physician recruiter and talent adviser at WVU Medicine, said the Optimas Award validates its initiative.

“WVU Medicine/University Health Associates is honored to be recognized by Workforce as the Gold winner for the Vision category of the Optimas Awards,” Belcher said. “It means a great deal to be recognized for our hard work and strategic efforts during an extraordinary time of growth for our organization. We continually strive to anticipate the needs of physician recruitment at WVU Medicine/University Health Associates and to create plans and programs to support this growth and drive business results. We appreciate the content and learning opportunities provided by Workforce.”

For its efforts in improving the health of West Virginians, WVU Medicine/University Health Associates is the Optimas Award Gold winner for Vision.

Read about the rest of our 2017 Optimas Winners Here.