A rural hospital system in New York state is offering sizable sign-on bonuses to try and attract imaging technologists.
Bassett Healthcare Network in Cooperstown announced that it has “significantly” enhanced incentives through the end of the year to fill crucial positions. The organization is offering up to $35,000 for registered nurses, along with $20,000 for techs who specialize in ultrasound, X-ray, MRI and CT.
President and CEO Tommy Ibrahim, MD, said the health system has made “excellent hiring progress” in the past year, adding 2,000 employees including 180 nurses.
“Still, Bassett has many open positions in a variety of disciplines,” he said in an announcement. “Adding more caregivers to our team is critically needed for the many thousands of patients who depend on us for care every day.”
Bassett Healthcare Network provides services to patients across a 5,600 square-mile region in upstate New York. The organization includes five corporately affiliated hospitals, along with more than two dozen community-based health centers.
A nationwide challenge
Providers face growing challenges in attempting to attract and retain technologists, with vacancy rates hitting historic heights, according to survey data from the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. All medical imaging disciplines included in the analysis reported their highest percentage of unfilled positions, for which they are actively recruiting, since ASRT started tracking these numbers in 2003. This includes an “all-time high” of 18.1% among radiographers, up from 6.2% in 2021.
AMN Healthcare reported in May that burnout appears to be pushing many technologists, lab techs and other allied healthcare professionals to work as travelers. Experts with the Dallas-based staffing and talent solutions firm said Bassett Healthcare’s bonus offer is unusual but likely warranted amid the strained hiring climate.
“It’s eye-opening, but not surprising,” Robin Johnson, group president of AMN Healthcare Nurse and Allied Solutions, told Radiology Business Thursday. “Both permanent and temporary rad tech positions are getting increasingly difficult to fill. There simply are not enough candidates to meet an accelerating national demand.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.