Century Health Services – Travel Nursing Company Profile
It’s important for travel nurses to research travel nursing companies prior to signing on with them. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find detailed information on companies. So, we’re always excited to get the opportunity to conduct in-depth interviews with travel nursing companies. We had such an opportunity with Century Health Services in February of 2018. In this article, we’ll share what we learned about CHS to help travel healthcare professionals decide if the company might be a good fit for them.
The Impetus for Century Health Services
The story of Century Health Services begins with the story of Lydia Akumu, RN, BSN. Lydia was born and raised in Kenya. She moved to the United States when she was 18 years old to attend Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2002.
Lydia got her first job at a hospital in Kansas where she worked for 3 years. Then, she took her first travel assignment in Bakersfield, California in 2005. She also worked agency PRN during that time. Friendly by nature, Lydia made many acquaintances among the travelers and PRN staff in the area.
As the nurses shared their stories with one another, Lydia recognized a common theme. Nearly every nurse seemed to have experienced poor service from healthcare staffing companies at one point or another. Motivated by the desire to take care of her fellow nurses, Lydia began taking steps to start a healthcare staffing agency.
The Early Days of Century Health Services
Lydia began by securing contracts to staff PRN at local hospitals around Bakersfield. Meanwhile, she continued to work her permanent nursing job at Bakersfield Heart Hospital. She worked 7 days a week to get CHS off the ground.
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For the most part, Lydia bootstrapped the business. This means she did not seek or accept outside investment capital. In case you’re not familiar with how healthcare staffing works, this is actually quite an accomplishment. You see, healthcare staffing companies must pay their staff well in advance of collecting bills from their hospital clients. Lydia actually used her own money to bridge the gap between what she needed to make payroll and what she had in capital on hand. While that was a major risk, she knew she had to do right by her nurses.
Building the Team At Century Health Services
As the company grew, Lydia knew she had to hire people who shared her passion to provide world class service to both nurses and clients. For example, she hired Lissa Harris-Soto in 2010. Lissa currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Century Health Services. Prior to CHS, Lissa worked at Valley Healthcare Staffing, Westways Staffing, and Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West).
While Lissa maintains the highest level of respect for her former employers and the service they provide, she knew that the culture at Century Health Services was uniquely compassionate and transparent the first time she spoke with Lydia. That resonated with Lissa. Find Lissa on social media and you’ll see why. CHS’s culture allows her to be forthcoming with behind-the-scenes information that helps clinicians achieve a full understanding of the healthcare staffing industry.
Meanwhile, many members of the management team at CHS have extensive experience in the healthcare industry as opposed to Sales. For example, Lori Jones spent over 15 years at Dignity Health in the Staffing and Human Resources departments. She is now the Client Services Manager at CHS. Having team members like Lori enhances CHS’s caring-first-culture.
CHS also hired Lydia’s brother, Richard Ochieng, in 2011. Richard holds a BSN from Washburn University as well as an MBA. He originally started working for CHS as a travel nurse and he came on full time in 2017. Richard currently serves as the company’s CEO and Director of Nursing.
World Class Service at Century Health Services
Ultimately, Century Health Services strives to prioritize service over bottom-line sales. This approach informs many of the company’s policies and procedures. For example, Century takes great care to ensure they’re not placing their nurses in bad situations. To do this, they rigorously screen both candidates and clients to make sure qualifications and expectations are aligned.
Additionally, Century offers 24/7 customer service availability to their clinicians. They do everything they can to keep costs low so they can pass the savings off to their nurses in the form of higher pay. As a result, Century’s current travel nurses refer most of the new travelers the company works with.
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Their service goal is to treat their employees like family. Of course, trust is a big part of being a strong family. For example, Century often exhibits trust in their travel nurses when there are problems with time-sheet verification and collection. In case you’re not aware, a travel nurse’s time-sheet typically serves as the agency’s invoice to bill the hospital. Without a valid time-sheet, the agency can’t collect money.
Unfortunately, there are often problems with time-sheet collection and verification. Most agencies would delay payroll for the healthcare professional when these problems occur. Not Century. They often take their travel nurses’ word for it and pay them out on time.
Caring Outside the Business at Century Health Services
The caring culture at Century Health Services extends outside the business as well. In that regard, they partner with non-profits that seek to advance and protect the field of nursing. For example, the company supports the Silent No More Campaign to end violence against nurses. They also support the Nurses Take D.C. event which rallies for patient ratio laws.
Century’s individual team members share the company’s penchant for helping nursing communities. For example, Lissa Harris-Soto is participating in the National Association of Hispanic Nurses conference in NYC in the spring of 2018. She is in the process of joining the association as well.
Moreover, Century Health Services representatives are always happy to help travel nurses with questions or problems even when those travel nurses do not work with the company. They encourage travelers to reach out to them on social media or directly to obtain help with anything related to travel nursing.
Success at Century Health Services
From their humble beginnings, Century Healthcare Services is expanding. Unfortunately, Lydia, the company’s fearless and compassionate founder, has fallen ill in recent years. However, she is still very much involved with the company. Her spirit, grit and vision continue to motivate the team.
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As mentioned above, Lydia’s brother, Richard, now serves as the company’s CEO and Director of Nursing. While most staffing firms outsource their DON needs to contractors, Richard works in-house and is involved at every level of the business. Richard is also a certified AHA BLS and ACLS instructor!
In recent years, the company has expanded by adding offices in Omaha, NE and Shreveport, LA. They’ve found new employees who share the company’s core values. And they’ve been able to accomplish this without bringing in investors or a board of directors. This affords them the liberty to maintain full control over the company’s culture and vision.
All of this bears out in the online reviews that nurses submit for Century Health Services. The company has an average score of 92 on 31 reviews submitted to Travel Nursing Central. So, if you’re looking for a new travel nursing company to work with, or you just have some general questions, then you might consider contacting Century Health Services!
