Edgility Expands Executive Search Services into Healthcare Sector

At Edgility, we’re fueled by the relentless pursuit of impact. Today, we’re thrilled to announce our expansion into the healthcare sector. As a mission-driven organization, we recognize the importance of keeping our mission dynamic. We relentlessly explore fresh avenues to propel ourselves closer to our goals, ensuring that our journey towards them remains ever-evolving. As we continue to seek opportunities to expand our impact in 2024 and beyond, it became clear to us that there are many parallels between issues we see in our education practice and the problems facing the US healthcare system. Both are experiencing similar crises: talent shortages, inequitable outcomes, record low staff morale, and team burnout. This means that not only is there a clear need for the type of support our firm offers, but we have the knowledge and experience to make a tangible difference in this sector. Edgility already has deep expertise in healthcare talent practices: our Talent Equity Consulting team has worked with healthcare organizations such as Peer Health Exchange, Planned Parenthood, and various community health centers across the United States to build equitable compensation and talent management programs. Therefore, we believe 2024 is the year to officially expand our services into the healthcare sector with a specific focus on our executive search practice. 

Healthcare in Crisis

The vast majority of health system leaders (85%) report that staffing issues are a top challenge their organizations currently face. In 2022, U.S. News and World Report cited data from ECRI, a nonprofit patient safety organization, that highlights staffing shortages as a top patient safety concern, leading to extreme wait times in ERs even when time is critical. While many had hoped that staff shortages were a side effect of the pandemic, the statistics suggest this issue was prevalent even before COVID-19 began to spread. A survey at the beginning of 2020 by the American Hospital Association (AHA) found that job vacancies for nursing staff had increased by 30% between 2019 and 2020.  

It should be no surprise that a lack of staff can lead to decreased quality in patient-centric care and increased burnout among current staff. The talent emergency, encompassing burnout, staff shortages, and turnover, prompted 95% of healthcare leaders to prioritize investing in their workforce in 2023. These challenges, coupled with the increasing prevalence of pay transparency laws will put increasing pressure on healthcare organizations to improve their talent acquisition strategies, increase total rewards, and boost staff retention efforts. The work our Talent Equity Consulting team has done for these types of organizations is already addressing a lot of these critical issues. But Healthcare institutions still need strong leaders to implement the necessary changes and drive toward better and more equitable outcomes. With our vast and diverse network and values-driven approach, Edgility is well-positioned to help the healthcare sector respond to the staffing and retention challenges they are facing. 

Healthcare Disparities Drive Increased Costs 

Staffing is far from the only difficulty facing healthcare leaders. A recent study led by Deloitte suggests that growth in healthcare costs is heavily driven by inequities in the US healthcare system. And the costs do not and will not just affect underserved populations. Inequalities across the system raise costs for the whole system. Deloitte states that unnecessary healthcare spending that stems from structural inequities and biases, specifically related to race, gender, and socioeconomic status, currently costs the country $320 billion, with the potential to reach $1 trillion by 2040 if not addressed. 

The persistent inequitable outcomes for patients in healthcare mimics what we see for students across the educational system. But we also know from education that if we get the right leaders who make the decisions in an inclusive and equitable way, we will see more equitable outcomes for all. 

Edgility’s Impact on Healthcare

Edgility’s commitment to diversifying leadership and building equitable, inclusive talent practices is unparalleled and can help the healthcare sector address this challenge. Over 75% of our historical placements are leaders of color, and over half are women. Additionally, our equity-centered compensation and talent management practices are already helping healthcare organizations close wage gaps and develop talent management practices that develop and retain staff from all backgrounds.

We are confident that Edgility’s executive search, talent acquisition, and talent consulting services can help the healthcare industry find, develop, grow, and keep the right people. This will lead to better, and more equitable health outcomes for patients, and more affordable healthcare costs for the country at large.