Elevora Case Study
Rebuilding Urgent Care Capacity After a Post-Acquisition Provider Exodus
March 2025
Executive Summary
Following the acquisition of a regional urgent care network, a large U.S. health system faced an acute workforce disruption that threatened access, revenue, and operational stability. Provider attrition following the transaction resulted in a shortage of approximately 15 full-time equivalent (FTE) urgent care clinicians, forcing widespread center closures and sustained revenue losses.
Traditional recruitment strategies failed to resolve the problem. The market lacked experienced urgent care providers, while newly graduated or inexperienced Advanced Practice Clinicians (APCs)—Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs)—were deemed high risk due to the absence of a structured onboarding and training framework.
The health system partnered with Elevora Partners to design and implement the Urgent Care Jump Start™ Program, an internal, accelerated training model that transformed new graduate and early-career APCs into confident, practice-ready urgent care clinicians.
Within months, the organization successfully hired and trained 10 new graduate APCs, reduced urgent care center closures by 85%, stabilized staffing, and restored revenue performance—while establishing a sustainable long-term workforce pipeline.
Client Background
The client organization was a multi-site urgent care operator within a larger health system that had recently completed an acquisition of several urgent care centers. While the acquisition expanded geographic reach, it introduced significant integration challenges—particularly related to clinical staffing.
Post-acquisition, a substantial number of legacy providers exited the organization. The reasons were multifactorial, including cultural misalignment, changes in compensation structure, and uncertainty following the transaction. The net result was a severe provider shortage, leaving many sites unable to operate safely or consistently.
Urgent care, unlike primary care, requires clinicians who can rapidly evaluate undifferentiated patients, manage higher-acuity presentations, perform procedures, and maintain throughput under operational pressure. The organization’s leadership recognized that the provider shortage was not merely a staffing issue—it was a strategic threat to access, brand reputation, and financial performance.
The Core Challenge
Leadership faced three interrelated constraints:
Inability to Recruit Experienced Providers
The labor market for experienced urgent care, emergency medicine, or family medicine clinicians was highly competitive and constrained. Recruitment cycles were long, costly, and unpredictable.High Risk of Hiring Inexperienced APCs
While new graduate NPs and PAs were available, the organization lacked the infrastructure to safely onboard them into urgent care practice. Leadership was appropriately concerned about patient safety, provider burnout, and liability.Revenue Loss from Center Closures
Staffing gaps forced frequent center closures or reduced operating hours, leading to daily revenue losses and diminished community access.
Traditional solutions—sign-on bonuses, agency staffing, and prolonged recruitment—proved insufficient. The organization required a structural solution, not a temporary fix.
The Elevora Partners Approach
The health system engaged Elevora Partners to address the workforce challenge holistically. Rather than focusing solely on recruitment, Elevora proposed building an internal urgent care training ecosystem centered on the Urgent Care Jump Start™ Program.
The premise was straightforward but transformative:
Elevora Partners partnered with executive, clinical, and operational leaders to implement the Urgent Care Jump Start™ Program—a structured, intensive pathway designed to transform new or early-career APCs into confident, competent urgent care clinicians.
Unlike online-only education solutions, Jump Start™ builds an internal training engine that organizations can repeat cohort after cohort.
The Urgent Care Jump Start™ Program
The Urgent Care Jump Start™ Program is a 16-week, accelerated, competency-based training pathway designed specifically for APCs with limited urgent care experience.
Unlike conventional onboarding or online-only education models, Jump Start™ integrates multiple learning modalities into a single, cohesive system:
Curated, Urgent Care–Specific Curriculum
Focused education aligned with real-world urgent care acuity, workflow, and risk profiles.Structured Clinical Shadowing
Early and progressive hands-on patient management under trained preceptors.Preceptor Development
Elevora trained experienced clinicians within the organization to serve as effective preceptors, emphasizing coaching, feedback, chart review, and clinical supervision.Hands-On Skills Workshops
Procedural training delivered by internal or external experts to build technical confidence.Performance Evaluation and Milestones
Clear competency tracking ensured APCs progressed based on demonstrated readiness—not time alone.
What Elevora Delivered
Recruitment, selection & onboarding support
Optimized job descriptions, interview structure, onboarding workflows, and hiring processes to target high-potential candidates.Curated urgent care curriculum
Focused learning aligned to urgent care acuity, speed, and decision-making requirements.Preceptor development
Training internal experienced clinicians to supervise, coach, perform chart review, and evaluate competency.Structured clinical shadowing (core component)
Early and progressive patient management experience under supervision, with formal feedback loops.Hands-on skills workshops
Procedural training to build confidence and standardize technique.End-to-end tools & evaluation framework
Competency validation, progress tracking, and clear graduation criteria for independent practice.
“If the organization could not reliably hire experienced urgent care clinicians, it would need to develop them.”
“The goal wasn’t to ‘teach urgent care.’ The goal was to create a sustainable pipeline that produces practice-ready providers.”
Results and Impact
The outcomes were both immediate and durable:
Staffing Recovery
Ten new graduate APCs successfully completed training and transitioned into independent urgent care practice, materially reducing the 15-FTE gap.Operational Stability
Urgent care center closures decreased by 85%, restoring access and predictability.Revenue Restoration
As centers reopened and staffing stabilized, revenue metrics improved significantly, reversing losses driven by closures.Clinical Confidence and Retention
APCs completing the program demonstrated high confidence, competence, and readiness—reducing early-career attrition risk.Sustainable Workforce Pipeline
The organization emerged with a fully operational internal training program capable of supporting future growth without reliance on scarce experienced hires.
Key Metrics
10 new graduate APCs hired and successfully trained through Jump Start™
85% reduction in urgent care center closures
Revenue performance improved as closures declined and operating hours stabilized
Strategic Implications
This case illustrates a broader shift in healthcare workforce strategy:
From recruitment-dependent models to development-driven models
From episodic onboarding to structured clinical training systems
From short-term fixes to scalable infrastructure
By investing in internal capability building, the organization converted a post-acquisition crisis into a strategic advantage.
Conclusion
The Urgent Care Jump Start™ Program enabled the health system to solve a critical workforce shortage while simultaneously strengthening clinical quality, access, and financial performance.
Rather than competing unsuccessfully for a limited pool of experienced providers, the organization built its own—establishing a sustainable, scalable solution aligned with long-term growth.
As workforce constraints continue to challenge urgent care operators nationwide, this case demonstrates that intentional training design—executed in partnership with clinical and operational leadership—can redefine what is possible.
About Elevora Partners
Elevora Partners specializes in urgent care workforce strategy, clinical training design, and operational transformation. Learn more about the Urgent Care Jump Start™ Program at
www.elevorapartners.com