Health systems develop internal travel programs

Internal travel programs appear to be an effective strategy for filling current and future staffing gaps at some health systems. Becker’s Hospital Review profiled three systems that recently launched programs. Irving, Texas-based Christus Health has more than 90 nurses and some respiratory therapists in its program and pays them wages comparable to those of other travelers. Nurses and other travelers at Omaha, Neb.-based CHI Health, part of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, are treated like other full-time employees but receive a traveler rate and a stipend in addition to other benefits. Pittsburgh-based UPMC, which also pays its 200-plus internal traveler nurses a premium to compensate for the job’s challenges, has lured some former employees back from outside agencies. (Becker’s Hospital Review article, 4/21/22)