Kevin Kirkpatrick, healthcare and hospital recruiter

Inside the hospital

I started in IT recruiting, then moved into hospitals. First I was the recruiter. Then I became the leader of the recruiters, at Humber River Hospital, St. Michael’s Hospital and Peterborough Regional Health Centre, with teams of up to six responsible for hiring for the whole hospital. That meant everyone: nurses, technologists, clinical IT, physicians, managers and executives. It’s where I learned what an open seat costs and how a hospital actually makes decisions.

“I get to take care of the people who take care of us.”

For a long time I struggled with which corner of healthcare to focus on. The answer is all of it. What I love about healthcare is how connected it is. One position affects every other position around it, and the people you hire are the ones taking care of patients.

Avery Professional Group, since 2008

I founded Avery Professional Group in 2008. Since then I’ve placed nurses, nurse practitioners, medical laboratory and radiation technologists, clinical IT, physicians, managers, directors, executives and physician leaders, permanently, on contract and for project work. I’ve relocated people across Canada and to Canada from the UK. I’ve run retained searches for Chiefs of Staff and medical directors, contingent searches for clinical, technical and administrative roles, and fractional engagements building recruitment functions from the inside. I’ve also led ATS implementations, text-recruiting rollouts, process changes, recruiter training and employer branding work.

I recruit for public hospitals and health systems and for private-sector healthcare organizations. Through search I make 20+ permanent placements a year, and my fractional and project engagements add many more hires on top of that. Physician job opportunities are posted at DocFinder, our physician recruitment service.

What I believe

Strong recruitment treats candidates as human beings. It doesn’t stop at the offer. It includes onboarding and ongoing support so people grow with the organization and are happy there. Clients should always know where their search stands. And leaders need support to lead, which is why every leadership placement, managers through C-suite, includes six months of coaching with an independent executive coach. Coaching and guarantee

I also host Leadership That Stays, a podcast with healthcare leaders about what it takes to lead well and keep good people.

Services · Healthcare recruitment · Physician recruitment · Healthcare executive search