Optimizing Shift Fulfillment at St. Mary’s General Hospital
Challenges
St. Mary’s General Hospital had 134 shifts that needed to be filled for RNs only. 71% of these were unfilled which meant significant times when inpatient units worked short-staffed. Of the 29% filled, 60% of those were at overtime which was causing increased costs.
To address staffing shortages, the organization relied on overtime hours and third-party agencies. St. Mary’s needed to optimize a staffing solution as the labor shortage was expected to increase — that’s when they turned to Flex to optimize their staffing approach.
Solution
The Flex platform was launched at St. Mary’s Hospital after a 2-3 week implementation period. The platform led to clear operational improvements, with more shifts fulfilled by internal staff, less overtime, less reliance on agencies, and more effective use of management time.
After 12 months, overtime usage dropped by 10%, unfulfilled shifts dropped from 71% to 38%, and the callout and scheduling process went from one hour a day to less than five minutes.
The platform has become an indispensable and effective part of the daily staffing routine for everyone at St. Mary’s, with a 100% adoption rate by staff members.
Results
Before Flex:
- 180 minutes of wasted admin time per open shift
- Only 29% of shifts fulfilled per month
After Flex:
- Less than 5 minutes of admin time per open shift
- 62%+ of shifts fulfilled per month
Testimonials
“With Flex, our shift fulfillment got much better. From 71% of our shifts going unfilled, we reduced that to 38% of shifts that go unfilled. On reducing clerical time, the amount of time it saved was astronomical. Prior to Flex, some estimates showed that it took 30 minutes to 3 hours to fulfill an open shift. With Flex, most often, it is minutes or under five minutes.”
— Danny V., Innovation Lead, St. Mary’s
“Before Flex, frontline staff were being pulled away from patient care to fill shifts. Depending on the day it could take 30 min to 4 hours to fill those shifts.”
— Sarah Farwell, Strategy Innovation and Communication, St. Mary’s
“With Flex, our shift fulfillment got much better. From 71% of our shifts going unfilled, we reduced that to 38% of shifts that go unfilled. On reducing clerical time, the amount of time it saved was astronomical. Prior to Flex, some estimates showed that it took 30 minutes to 3 hours to fulfill an open shift. With Flex, most often, it is minutes or under five minutes.”