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Nursing Success
Gigi and Jason Mateo provide temporary health care staffing for their clients.
By Ellen Jensen Entrepreneur: Gigi and Jason Mateo
Company Name:
Integral Care Provider
6811 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Ste. 115
Overland Park, KS
(913) 384-2273
Type of Business: Health Care Staffing
Year Founded: 1994
Number of Employees: Approximately 150 employees
Keys to Success: "Having a nursing background-If there is a problem, I know the questions to ask, as well as the language. Because I can relate to the work, I can grasp the situation more easily than somebody without a nursing background."-Gigi Mateo By Ellen Jensen Growing up, Gigi Mateo knew that she wanted to be either a nurse or a dietician. She had been exposed to nursing at an early age through hospital visits to see family members, and she admired nurses' friendly efficiency. She also learned to cook at an early age, and her interest in becoming a dietician stemmed from her love of food.
Mateo went to the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and applied to enter the dietician curriculum. Because they were not accepting applications at the time, she fell back on her other choice: nursing.
"Fate stepped in and made the decision for me," Mateo said.
She met her husband and business partner, Jason, while finishing the five-year curriculum for a Bachelor of Science in nursing. After graduation, she worked in the dialysis unit in a Manila hospital. Nurse Importation
Because of a nursing shortage in the United States during the 1970s, Kansas City hospitals spent a lot of time and effort recruiting nurses from the Philippines.
"Jason went to Kansas City in 1978, and I followed a year later," Mateo said. When she arrived, Mateo found it almost like old home week.
"The majority of nurses at the hospital were from the Philippines," she said. "I couldn't believe it."
By 1991-after 12 years in nursing-Gigi and Jason Mateo were ready for a change. After a couple of business hiccups, they started Integral Care Provider (ICP), providing nurses, therapists and technicians to hospitals and doctors. Jason handles the finances and Gigi handles the day-to-day operations, including recruiting, contracts and marketing.
In addition to its placement staff, ICP has five employees who work in the office, including two coordinators who handle scheduling during the day. They also have a full-time on-call coordinator who works from home at night. She takes any calls that come in between 6 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.
The company has a variety of medical personnel on staff, including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, dialysis technicians, medical assistants, medication aides, physical therapists and occupational therapists. Flexibility
One of the best draws for the staff is the flexibility. Nurses can work as little as two shifts a month or as much as four to five shifts a week. Most of the shifts are 12 hours, but there are some eight-hour shifts available as well.
Diana Dysart has been a nurse with ICP for 12 years. She chose agency work because she wanted more flexibility in controlling her schedule.
"I had a son in school and wanted to be able to work my schedule around his," she said.
The staff can schedule by the month or weekly. Dysart schedules week to week, so by Thursday or Friday, she lets ICP know which days and shifts she wants to work the following week. Then, on Sunday night or Monday morning, one of the coordinators will call her and let her know where she needs to go.
"I might go to the same hospital for a month, or I might bounce around," Dysart said.
Nurses also can choose in which areas they will work. Dysart mainly works with medical surgical patients, telemetry, cardiac, outpatient, radiology and oncology. She's never put in an area where she's not comfortable.
"I may like certain areas more than others, and the agency knows that, but I go where the needs are-I have to be flexible too," Dysart said. "There are certain areas I'm not comfortable with, and I have the option not to accept shifts in those areas." Puzzle Solving
On the other side of the coin, the hospitals and doctors under contract with ICP communicate their needs on various schedules as well. Some turn in their requests a month or two in advance, some weekly and some daily.
"And then there are the emergency panic calls where somebody called in sick, the ER filled up and they need more nurses to cover, or they need an extra ICU nurse," Gigi Mateo said.
Matching the clients' needs with the staff schedules on a day-to-day basis is a like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The coordinators at Integral Care Provider have to find staff members with the appropriate skills to plug any holes in the schedule on a daily basis, and that can mean a nearly daily scramble for the A-Z list.
The coordinators call the staff members who aren't already scheduled to see whether they are available to take shifts. Some of the nurses are "on call," which means they said they would be available for last-minute calls, but that doesn't mean they will always be available. Most of the time, there are financial incentives for going in at the last minute, Mateo said.
She said the most frustrating days are when they are not able to fill a client's needs because they don't have enough nurses or the right ones available. So, they will resort to creative staffing if they call the list and still can't fill a shift.
"As long as the skill level is there and the change won't jeopardize the hospital staffing, we can sometimes shift staff around," Mateo said.
Or, if a hospital requested an ICU nurse, but one isn't available, the coordinator will ask whether the hospital can use a telemetry nurse who has many of the skills necessary for ICU, as long as she doesn't receive the most critical patients. Competition
Mateo said when they started the business in the early 1990s, there were only a dozen companies offering the same types of services. There wasn't much competition for the nursing pool, so it was easy to recruit nurses. Now, there are at least 25 agencies sharing the same pool of nurses, and some nurses work for more than one agency.
"Sometimes nurses aren't available because they are already scheduled through another agency," Mateo said.
Still, several nurses work exclusively with ICP. Three nurses have been with the company since it started 12 years ago. Another group has been with the company for eight to 10 years and many have been with ICP for more than five years.
Mateo said her biggest challenge is recruiting nurses. Not only is her competition looking for nurses, but hospitals are crying out because they need nurses too. She works hard to make ICP a great place to work, and her efforts pay off. She said 90 percent of their employees come to them through word of mouth. Still, Mateo is always looking for nurses. Benefits
As an enticement, ICP offers good benefits, including flexibility, which is the perk most of her employees value most. The agency also is easy to work with, Dysart said, which is why she has stuck with them for 12 years. Her son is now in college, but she has grown accustomed to the flexibility.
Another popular benefit is instant pay. For example, a nurse can work Saturday and Sunday shifts, then come in Monday morning and get paid for those shifts. ICP pays on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The nurses also have the option of being paid weekly, and ICP offers direct deposit.
Staff who work an average of 32 hours a week receive all benefits, including health insurance, life and disability insurance, dental, 401(k), vacation pay, continuing education allowance, uniform allowance, referral bonus and instant pay.
Part timers receive various benefits according to the number of hours they work, but everyone receives referral bonus and instant pay benefits. Traveling Nurses
Integral Care Provider also has contracts with hospitals outside of Kansas City, so if a nurse wanted to go to, say, Hawaii, for a few months, ICP will check with a partner hospital to see what shifts it needs to fill. If a nurse wanted to go to a location where there is no contract in place, ICP usually can contact a hospital and set up a contract, Mateo said. Also, ICP has contracts in place with the General Services Administration/Veterans Administration hospitals.
In the Traveling Nurse Program, staff members go to other locations for eight to 13-week stints, sometimes longer if they are offered an extension. Depending on the contract that ICP has negotiated with the client, ICP usually picks up travel allowances and lodging.
ICP is a fast-paced business and sometimes can be stressful, but Mateo said she gets great satisfaction out of helping medical facilities fill their needs-especially the last-minute emergencies. She said there is nothing like the satisfaction of solving puzzles.
"When we are able to fill the shifts and solve the problems, that gives me a rush," Mateo said. Ellen Jensen is the managing editor of Kansas City Small Business Monthly magazine.
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