FirstHealth of the Carolinas, a 610-bed not-for-profit healthcare network, announced a partnership with CareRev, the on-demand workforce platform for acute care nursing. In partnering with CareRev, FirstHealth elevates its workforce strategy and gains access to a pool of qualified healthcare professionals to support full-time staff.

FirstHealth is taking innovative steps to support its employees by strategically deploying its workforce. The Program on Health Workforce Research and Policy at the Cecil G Sheps Center predicts North Carolina will experience an estimated shortage of close to 12,500 registered nurses by 2033. Selecting CareRev as a partner gives FirstHealth the opportunity to improve nurse well-being and reduce costs by providing easy access to a flexible workforce.

“By tapping the healthcare professionals working through CareRev’s platform, FirstHealth is

gaining flexibility across our system. This allows our team to provide the right care for patients at the right time, while supporting our employee culture and wellness,” said Jacklynn Lesniak,

DNP, MS, RN, NEA-BC, Chief Nursing Officer of FirstHealth, in a press release. “At FirstHealth, we deeply value and prioritize our healthcare professionals, and with CareRev, we can continue to support our workforce and encourage growth and development opportunities for our staff members.”

Through CareRev’s platform, FirstHealth staffing managers across three Moore Regional Hospitals located in Pinehurst, Richmond, and Hoke, North Carolina, can schedule pre-vetted registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, at a moment’s notice, to address fluctuating patient demand. Deploying CareRev’s technology alleviates administrative burden by creating a direct line to qualified talent and simplifying the credentialing and onboarding processes.

“We are proud to be partnering with FirstHealth, working together to find long-term staffing solutions that allow healthcare professionals to continue to do the work they love,” said Brandon Atkinson, CEO of CareRev, in a press release. “FirstHealth is an innovative healthcare network known for its incredible culture, and we are looking forward to assisting the team in prioritizing their staff members while simultaneously caring for the community.”

Lesniak shared that this week the hospital had their first two CareRev nurses complete orientation and are now ready to pick up shifts.

“I think what I'm most looking forward to is really being able to provide that resiliency to our own staff. Through the pandemic and everything that healthcare has been [through] in the past few years, [we] really need to have resiliency as a workforce strategy, that goes along with the flexible workforce. So being able to use CareRev and their platform to be able to support the FirstHealth staff and being able to have some flexibility in their schedules, as well as really supporting their resiliency, kind of is a strategy for nursing here at FirstHealth,” added Lesniak.