As the shortage of physicians in the U.S. continues to place strain on communities and health systems across the country, innovative physician recruitment and retainment strategies are becoming essential to organizational strategy and growth.
Pinehurst, N.C.-based Sandhill Emergency Physicians, an independent group of emergency physicians, has shifted its approach to recruitment in order to meet the shifting demands of healthcare in 2026, The Pilot reported April 21.
Brooke Pabst, MD, a partner at SEP, told the publication that the group’s independence has been a key selling point to potential hires as some physicians look towards employment settings that offer more autonomy and flexibility than health systems or corporate-owned practices.
Physicians working in physician-led practices also show higher signs of job satisfaction compared with their peers in health systems or corporate practices. Consulting firm Bain & Co. released its “Frontline of Health Survey” in October 2024, revealing that nearly 25% of physicians in health system-led organizations were considering changing employers, compared to 14% in physician-led practices. Among those in physician-led models, 81% said they were satisfied with their involvement in strategic decision-making, compared to just 50% in hospital-led practices.
“Nationally, people are moving toward either hospital-based employment or corporate management groups,where a company has physicians and places them in hospitals,” Dr. Pabst told the outlet. “I think probably the largest reason we were so successful in recruiting was because we are an independent democratic group — we have a lot more ownership.”
She added that her organization’s approach differs from many corporately-owned organizations in their connection to community needs and approach to care models.
“[Corporate organizations] might staff [a group] with more physician assistants or more nurse practitioners versus physicians and not really meet the community need, the hospital need, because that ownership is now within a business model,” Dr. Pabst said. “For us here in Pinehurst, we have a lot of physician coverage, and if a [corporate group] came in, you’d see a lot more PAs working in the ER. We love our PAs, but that’s one of the benefits of a democratic group. We can make those decisions based on the community’s need and the acuity — how sick patients are.”
That sense of democracy was a significant draw for Joel Lange, MD, also a partner at SEP, especially in regards to how it impacts their physicians’ work-life balance. He said that he was starting a family as he entered the workforce, and SEP was the only employer he interview with that was set up for all physicians to share an equal burden of time on shift, as opposed to more hierarchical structures set up at other organizations.
“I came here three years ago, and the fact that I would come in at the same number of shifts, I would get Christmas off and the president would work Christmas — it was big,” Dr. Lange said. “It said they value me as one of their own. They want me to be one of them, and most of our docs, by far, will become partners, as well.”
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