Nursing Agency Use During Economic Downturn

November 2, 2008

Many of our staff are wondering about what effect the current economic downturn will have on nursing agency utilization. I joined Carecor in 1982 just at the time this agency began. Inflation was high and many industries were suffering during what was a major recession. Interest rates were raised to very high levels, and unemployment soared. Eventually, inflation declined and more people returned to the workforce. But during these times, keeping a family's head above water was difficult. Many nurses joined Carecor in order to supplement the family's income, often reduced due to the unemployment of a spouse. Picking up extra shifts was essential.

Now, in 2008, we are starting to see similar trends, but in many cases the fundamentals of the economy are different. Our Ontario government is starting to say that funding to hospitals will be very tight, especially during the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Does that mean hospitals will be cutting back on agency use? Who knows? The same government has also said that it will have to postpone the funding for an additional 9,000 nurses in Ontario. Everyone who works in hospitals knows that the nursing shortage is very real. Any attempt to do with less nurses - be they hospital-employed or agency-provided - will make the delivery of patient care that much more difficult. At Carecor, we believe that over the coming year, demand will still stay strong for agency staff. The "just in time" staffing which hospitals enjoy by using agency personnel will be even more important as hospitals juggle budgets and patient census literally on a month-by-month basis.

So, as Carecor flourished during the recession of the early 1980's, it is our view that our nurses will continue to get all the shifts they want during this economic downturn. Carecor continues to grow daily in terms of our employee base and the number of shifts we book with our client hospitals. Bring your friends to Carecor, and together we will weather this storm.

Robert Yeo
President