Catholic Charities New Hampshire today announced the launch of St. Jacinta Healthcare Staffing, a new staffing agency for nursing professionals seeking per diem shifts & assignments statewide. With its creation, St. Jacinta becomes the state’s first nonprofit healthcare staffing agency.

St. Jacinta, an affiliate of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, is squarely designed to respond to the increasing cost of care among New Hampshire skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes, particularly the growing expenses from relying on outside external agencies to fill staffing needs.

“There is a perfect storm hovering over New Hampshire skilled nursing facilities,” said Tracey Lane, executive director of St. Jacinta. “Not only are they staring down a barrel of unfavorable reimbursement rates, deficits and negative margins, but the staffing dynamics are also shifting statewide. Among the already-thinning talent pool, more nursing professionals are opting for higher flexibility and pay through staffing agencies, versus traditional direct hire roles. For nursing homes, this means more variability and uncertainty in aligning their staffing with resident and patient demand.”

“As a result, they are relying more on external staffing agencies to cover that gap. But every time you fill a shift with agency staff, a significant piece of that cost goes back to the employer agency,” adds Lane. “These costs continue to add up, and over time, they will no longer be practical or sustainable. Establishing a nonprofit internal agency to serve a large network of care facilities is our proactive solution to the problem.”

“We are excited to have Tracey on board to lead St. Jacinta and address our staffing needs through this creative solution,” said Tom Blonski, President & CEO of Catholic Charities New Hampshire. “Opening our own staffing agency and reducing our dependency on contract services will ensure we can best respond to the growing short- and long-term healthcare needs of the state’s rapidly expanding elderly population.”

St. Jacinta offers per diem shifts & assignments for Licensed Nursing Assistants (LNAs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), Registered Nurses (RNs) and other healthcare positions at Catholic Charities’ seven skilled nursing facilities across New Hampshire. Locations include Manchester, Laconia, Dover, Berlin and Windham.

Benefits for St. Jacinta employees include competitive pay, the flexibility to choose shifts and locations, self-scheduling, shift trades, a paperless workflow, career development initiatives, continuing education assistance and more. No minimum shifts are required.

“Our motto is ‘We Listen to and Love Our Employees,'” Lane adds. “We want our staff to feel heard, respected and valued. This is a unique opportunity to not only grow careers and learn from some of the best in the business, but also work for a nonprofit where staff are not aggressively recruited or owned by contracts.”

St. Jacinta is led by Lane, who carries extensive experience connecting medical and nursing staff with employment opportunities. She was most recently a Talent Acquisition Partner for the Partnership for Successful Living, operating the recruitment of medical and social services positions along with employee relations for the nonprofit collaborative.

For more information on St. Jacinta, as well as a list of employment opportunities, visit stjacinta.com.