Peru hospital closure leads Dixon, Sterling hospitals to host job fairs

Health care workers, who find themselves looking for jobs because of the closing of St. Margaret’s in Peru, had the opportunity to seek employment elsewhere through job fairs Thursday and Friday in La Salle and Peru.

According to Dana Conkrite, human resources recruiter for Sterling’s CGH Medical Center, the goal of the job fair, hosted Thursday in Peru, was to help affected St. Margaret’s employees by providing potential career opportunities.

“The event was held due to the information that St. Margaret’s would be suspending services, and CGH having career opportunities for the staff that may be looking for something new,” Conkrite said. “Our hope is to help any staff member searching for their next career see that CGH is a great organization to consider working for.”

Ryan Miller, vice president and chief people officer of KSB Hospital in Dixon, said the job fair on Friday at the Auditorium Ballroom in La Salle was a way to extend “a warm welcome” to potential patients and workers.

“Knowing the importance a hospital plays in a local community, not only healthcare and patient care, but also in terms of employment and economic impact that has, we wanted to do everything possible to extend a warm welcome to those patients that might be coming to KSB Hospital in Dixon as well as those team members who might be interested in career opportunities here,” Miller said.

Kaitlyn Nease, director of human resources for KSB Hospital, said there are openings in RN nursing, lab, rehab and more across the organization, including clinical and non-clinical positions.

Nease added an important part of KSB’s hospital culture is the face-to-face conversations and connections, which is why they wanted to host an in-person job fair in La Salle.

“Relationships drive the work that we do,” Nease said. “So being able to get here, have conversations with the community, people that are interested in career opportunities, those who are interested in potential places to be a patient, those relationships build our ability to make connection.”

Similarly, Conkrite said CGH wanted to provide the community with an opportunity to connect and speak directly to the Human Resources recruiter and a few directors about CGH. She also said the hospital was able to give local businesses flyers and get out yard sign advertisements around the area.

Miller said the turnout at the KSB job fair was slower than anticipated, saying numbers were minimal. But, he said the hospital has some interviews set up with people who are interested in positions.

Patients can visit the KSB Hospital website at ksbhospital.com or the CGH Medical website at cghmc.com to view all services offered, available providers and phone numbers to make an appointment.

All career opportunities are posted on each hospital’s website under the “Careers” or “Join Our Team” tab. Interested applicants can apply on the posted job board.

More information is also available on each hospital’s Facebook pages at facebook.com/cghmedicalcenter and facebook.com/ksbhospital.