Health care labor shortages have always caused a stir for hospital management, but an Oregon tech company is on the rise to answer the call.
Israel Angeles sought to find a solution to labor shortages in the health care industry that met the needs of both workers and facilities alike. With $100,000 of his own money, FleetNurse was born, providing a tech-enabled, gig model-based approach to staffing.
“I was in a venture planning class in the Executive MBA program at the University of Oregon when the idea came to me,” said Angeles who is CEO of FleetNurse. “My background in medical devices made me wonder why the same tech platform that’s used for gig-working in delivery and mobility couldn’t be reshaped to meet the needs of the health care industry. Providers want work, and facilities need them.”
Established in 2019 along with co-founders John Lundquist and Corina Pigg, FleetNurse began its first trial run in Eugene, where it’s based. The company quickly expanded to Houston, where its popularity grew to other major metropolitan areas in Texas.
“We want to provide health professionals with the freedom of choice,” said Lundquist. “Hospitals and medical facilities can use FleetNurse to request who they need, and for what, and it’s up to the professional to take the job if they want it. Shifts are always in need to be filled, especially since the pandemic began.”
The ever-growing imbalance between supply and demand for health care labor has fueled FleetNurse’s rapid expansion. Outside of Oregon and Texas, the company has been rolled out to North Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois, with a network of over 30,000 health care professionals, including certified nurses, med techs, med assistants, radiology techs, surgical techs and more. Revenue has already more than tripled in 2021.
“We do all of our operations in-house in Eugene,” said Pigg. “From verifying needed credentials to scheduling, we verify the quality of the labor pool available with FleetNurse so facilities can be assured they’re getting the best talent available.”
As more health care professionals demand a sustainable work-life balance, FleetNurse’s model ensures that they have control of their schedules, while also putting power in the hands of facilities to easily manage their staffing needs.
