Hemet Valley Health System Seeks Deal To Recruit Foreign Nurses Within Three Months
Hemet Valley Health System on Friday proposed hiring Strategic Healthcare Services to recruit foreign nurses for the system's hospitals in Hemet, Sun City and Moreno Valley, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. Hospital district officials said the company could recruit foreign nurses and have them credentialed and ready to begin work within three months, a process other recruiters say will take 13 months.
According to the proposal, SHS would provide the nurses with cultural training, help secure visas, provide assistance with California nurse-licensing requirements, and provide transportation to the Hemet area and four months' room and board. If the nurses leave or are terminated within two years, SHS would provide the hospital district a replacement or a credit for the remainder of the time.
The company would charge the hospital district $50,000 per recruited nurse. The hospital district board was expected to vote on the proposal on Monday.
Geoff Lang, the hospital district's interim CEO, said the district hopes it can save money by hiring SHS to recruit as many as 40 foreign nurses to work in the hospital. Lang said he believes the company's fee is within the range that other facilities are charging for similar services.
According to information from the hospital district, Kali Chaudhuri holds an ownership stake in SHS. Chaudhuri, along with the hospital district, co-owns Valley Health Care Management Services, which manages HVHS's daily operations.
Lang was unaware how much of SHS Chaudhuri owns and other facilities for which the company had recruited foreign nurses (Beeman, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 6/25).