Daytona Beach News-journal Online: Chicago-based Provider Targets Region For Growth

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Monday, November 13, 2006) - Local business owners, who claim the area already is oversaturated with medical staffing agencies, still say "bring it on" to Chicago-based BrightStar Healthcare, which is targeting Daytona Beach for expansion.

"I'm not threatened by the new business in any way, shape or form," said Elaine Gavin-Zoske, who has operated Quality Professionals Inc. in Daytona Beach for 18 years.

"There's always competition. That keeps you on your toes," she said.

At least nine area agencies place medical workers in hospitals, nursing homes and clinics, with another 11 offering home health care.

"We only have so many people we can draw from," Gavin-Zoske said. "There are only so many nurses and so many hospitals. This is not a huge metropolitan area."

But Shelly Sun, president of BrightStar, said her company's market analysis shows an opportunity in the Daytona Beach market. The company is seeking local franchisees and plans to open two offices by the end of 2007.

"The health-care industry in Volusia County is rapidly growing," Sun said. "We are looking for owners with a compassionate side to make sure the seniors are taken care of."

BrightStar is breaking into the Florida market with 35 new locations. "There's not a market within Florida that is not hot," Sun said.

Lately, medical staffing agencies are competing for nurses more than for contracts with hospitals. With the current nursing shortage, nurses can write their own tickets.

Traditionally called contract, agency or traveling nurses, many nurses are choosing to work for agencies because of the flexible hours.

The nursing shortage has thrown agencies into a bidding war, offering better and better benefits.

Most of the agencies employ medical specialists directly, providing workers' compensation and medical negligence insurance. But the agencies increasingly also are offering health insurance, dental insurance, 401(k) plans, vacations, tuition reimbursements, cafeteria plans and life insurance. "Shall I go on?" joked Sun.

"With the agencies offering more benefits, more people are wanting to work for agencies. It is more a full-time job now, not a temporary job," said Jessyca Hogan, Florida regional manager of CareSource, a Baltimore-based company with an Ormond Beach office.

Sylvia Deal is office manager of Suwannee Medical Personnel, which has about 300 employees and has been in Daytona Beach for 15 years. She said more small agencies are popping up and aren't covering their workers' insurance.

"Some of these agencies are cutting the billing rates because they don't have a lot of overhead," she said. "The rest of us can't compete, especially with workers comp and liability rates rising.

"If they are going to enter the market, they need to do it like the rest of us. I'm concerned about the consistency and quality of patient care," she said.

Sun said BrightStar, which does cover its employees' insurance, is responding to an aging population's growing need for medical and personal care. She said BrightStar plans to open 400 new franchises and 40 corporate offices by 2010.

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