Steve Mahan, chief executive officer, said the recruitment process has to involve more than a good site visit with a candidate.

“It gets into sales as an art,” he said. “We keep a letter of intent ready, in case we know we’ve hit a home run. But we’re not looking for just any warm body. We want to get the best we can. A typical package would cost between 300 and 500 thousand dollars, depending on the specialty.”

One of the recent successful recruits is David Jennings, D.O., a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He described both professional and personal reasons for landing in Muskogee.

“I did my residency in Pittsburgh, Pa., but I grew up in Claremore,” he said. “There is an inpatient rehab in the hospital. I’ll be working there in the center, and I’ll be a director as well. The people I’ve met are very positive and friendly and looking into the future.”

Jennings’ practice will be on West Okmulgee Avenue in the old Kirk’s Drug building. He praised Muskogee as a place to live.

“This is a nice, friendly community,” he said. “It’s small enough to be friendly and big enough not to be too small. My wife was born at MRMC and grew up in Broken Arrow, and I have a brother who practices here. Basically it was a matter of getting back to this part of the state. After four years in Pittsburgh, my wife and I were anxious to get back.”

The other side of the hospital’s recruitment effort is nurses. Unlike doctors, they are employees of the hospital, but they are also more mobile, and turnover is higher.

Chief Nursing Officer Diane Fulton and Elmo Vinas, director of Human Resources, handle the hiring of nurses. The first steps in nursing recruitment are done through a recruitment firm with a representative in Human Resources.

Fulton said the process is not nearly as elaborate, and there are different priorities.

“Selling Muskogee is similar,” she said. “We want them to live here, although some may drive from surrounding areas. We’ve been focusing on schools, and we start recruitment before they graduate. Right now we need about 30.”

Because there is a high demand for nurses in a market with a shortage, Fulton said retention of existing nurses is as much a priority as recruiting.

What Fulton seeks in a good nurse are certain personality traits.

“What I look for is someone who is caring, knowledgeable in all the sciences, with a compassionate personality,” she said. “I want nurses who want to make a positive difference in the lives of patients and their families.”

Vinas said the demands of nursing weed out those who entered the field just as a way to make money. The hospital employs about 200 nurses, of which about 130 are registered nurses and the remainder are licensed practical nurses.

“Once we have a candidate coming in, they visit with different managers of units,” he said. “We can make them an offer that same day. They either accept or think about it, but we try to make an offer the day they are here. If they accept, we do a drug screening and background check.”