Samaritan Health Services’ (SHS) Inter-Facility Flow (IFF) program, which helps keep highly-skilled nurses within our communities, received the highest award for strategic human capital management in health care from Lawson Software, a global software management firm based in Austin, Texas.

Before the IFF program’s inception, highly trained SHS nurses had strong incentive to leave their local community to seek additional hours through staffing agencies in hospitals across the state. In turn, this forced SHS to hire temporary nurses through a staffing agency at a significantly higher cost.

“The IFF program has strategically addressed these problems by connecting qualified SHS nurses to open shifts in hospitals across the system,” said Jennifer Vig, RN and nurse manager at Samaritan Albany General Hospital.

“Nurses who volunteer to participate within the program must fill open shifts within their contracted hospital before accepting open shifts elsewhere, further emphasizing the importance of community-centered care,” Vig added.

This voluntary program has filled hundreds of shifts with nurses who are familiar with the specific needs of patients across the system and within our communities.

Vig accepted the award for strategic human capital management in health care on behalf of SHS in June.

“The award reflects positively on our ability to work as a team in order to solve the many challenges we face together,” Vig replied. “I am proud that we were able to find a solution that met the needs of our organization, staff and the patients we serve.”