Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS), located in upstate New York, faced significant challenges with provider scheduling. Seasonal surges and hospitalist staffing gaps jeopardized operational efficiency and patient care. Through a strategic partnership with Jackson and Coker, MVHS implemented an integrated locum tenens solution that stabilized shift coverage across admission, swing, and nocturne teams, reduced last‑minute scheduling churn, and sustained a high standard of patient care.
Client Challenges
Mohawk Valley Health System experienced:
Seasonal surges in patient volume during colder months and flu season.
Persistent gaps in admission, swing, and nocturne shifts.
Limited provider availability, complicating master schedule coordination and creating last‑minute coverage scrambles.
These issues increased the workload on permanent staff, risked compromising patient care, and threatened provider safety.
Our Approach
We designed and delivered a tailored locum tenens strategy that aligned provider availability with MVHS’s operational demands:
Targeted Coverage: Introduced locum tenens providers to fill critical shift gaps across hospital medicine.
Smart Matching: Matched providers to shifts using census patterns, department priorities, and provider preferences.
Transparent Coordination: Maintained clear visibility between provider availability and facility requirements to prevent last‑minute conflicts.
Credentialing and Scheduling Integration: Coordinated credentialing and scheduling processes to align seamlessly with the MVHS master schedule and permanent staff workflows.
The approach emphasized relationship-building, trust, and proactive communication with leaders and frontline stakeholders to ensure smooth integration.
Implementation Highlights
Proactive Planning: Early engagement with leadership and operations to anticipate surge periods and staffing constraints.
Selective Provider Matching: Rigorous fit assessment to ensure clinical alignment and schedule reliability.
Continuous Feedback Loops: Iterative reviews with MVHS to refine scheduling, address pain points, and sustain alignment with clinical objectives.
“Jackson and Coker really pulled through for us in a time where we needed them the most. Shortly after COVID, our census was through the roof and our hospitalist team wasn’t large enough to handle the capacity. Nick (Mazzilli) took ownership of our entire hospitalist schedule, managing it with locums and ensuring coverage. Their credentialing team was phenomenal—proactive, efficient, and knowledgeable. Without their help, our patients would have suffered.”
Joelle Mead
Director of Provider Recruitment
Results + Impact
While some steps remained manual by design to preserve precision and safety, the outcomes justified the investment:
Stabilized Coverage
Reliable staffing across admission, swing, and nocturne shifts during peak demand.
Protected Care Standards
Maintained continuity and quality of patient care throughout surge periods.
Better Provider Experience
Reduced last‑minute coverage scrambles and workload saturation, supporting provider satisfaction and safety.
Operational Clarity
Transparent scheduling processes, with credentialing and availability aligned to the master schedule.
Key Takeaways
Trust and Communication Drive Success: Early, transparent engagement across leadership levels prevents last‑minute gaps.
Tailored Processes Matter: Custom-fit scheduling and credentialing deliver flexibility without sacrificing rigor.
Manual Precision Has Value: Where safety and reliability are paramount, selective manual steps can be the right choice.
Looking Ahead
MVHS and Jackson and Coker are collaborating to quantify next‑phase outcomes, including reduced provider burnout and enhanced patient metrics, while exploring strategies that sustain long‑term staffing stability through strategic locum tenens support.
About Mohawk Valley Health System
Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) is the parent company of the Wynn Hospital, MVHS Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (RNC) and Visiting Nurse Association of Utica and Oneida County, Inc. in Utica, New York.
MVHS serves the geographic area of Oneida, Herkimer and Madison counties and is an integrated delivery system with 3,300 full-time equivalent employees and a combined operating budget of $648 million.
The MVHS Medical Group has 16 primary care locations. The group also provides services in many specialty areas including women’s and children’s health; general, cardiothoracic, vascular, orthopedic and neurological surgery; advanced endoscopy, wound care, bariatric, cardiovascular, comprehensive stroke, cancer, immune health, behavioral health, psychiatry and neurosciences, pulmonary critical care and urology.
About Jackson and Coker
Jackson and Coker Locum Tenens connects healthcare organizations of all sizes with physicians and advanced practitioners because we believe everyone deserves compassion and care. With 40+ years of fostering purposeful relationships, we transform lives through locum tenens staffing by combining unparalleled service and tailored solutions. Jackson and Coker Locum Tenens is part of the Jackson Healthcare® family of companies.
