By: Michelle Lee Hoy, Senior Corporate Communications Specialist, Oak Valley Health
This fall marked a turning point in how Oak Valley Health delivers clinical care. On September 30, 2025, the hospital officially transitioned to an agency-free model, meaning that all nursing and clinical services would be provided by its own staff.
Agency nurses — nurses brought in from private staffing agencies to help when hospitals are short-staffed or patient volumes are high — had played a critical supporting role over the years, especially during surges, seasonal pressures, and notably, the COVID-19 pandemic. But that reliance came with challenges. While these nurses helped fill urgent gaps, the nature of this model also brought challenges around unfamiliarity with internal processes, culture, workflows, and team dynamics, which sometimes affected continuity of care and staff collaboration.
“We had great care delivered by agency nurses, so we couldn’t have done it without them, truly,” said Mark Fam, President & CEO. “But for a patient to have the same nurse caring for them day after day, it makes all the difference for their experience. The more you know each other, the more you can trust each other and lean on each other.”
Up until 2025, Oak Valley Health had leaned on agencies to cover about 3,800 shifts per year, with costs peaking at $4.6 million in some years. Transitioning away from this model will allow those funds to be redirected into bolstering in-house nursing teams — through expanded recruitment, stronger onboarding, and ongoing education.
In line with the hospital’s journey to becoming a High Reliability Organization (HRO), stable, consistent staffing is foundational to safer, higher quality care. By having nursing teams who are deeply embedded in the hospital’s values and workflows, Oak Valley Health aims to reduce variability and enhance responsiveness, especially during high-pressure situations.
The hospital’s staffing office has played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in making this shift possible by coordinating recruitment, scheduling, and workforce planning to ensure operational continuity through the transition.
For patients and the community, the change promises more continuity: more familiar caregivers, stronger relationships with care teams, and increased capacity for expanding key services in cardiac, stroke, and nephrology care.
For nurses and staff, the move means renewed focus on building stable, supported teams rooted in trust, communication, and shared mission.
“We’re grateful for the partnership and commitment agency staff showed over the past few years,” Fam remarked. “As we looked forward, it was time to refocus on building stability and strength within our own nursing teams.”
As Oak Valley Health embraces this new model, the hope is clear: this isn’t just a staffing shift, but a re-investment in the human side of health care — this transition is about strengthening the organization’s nursing workforce, supporting teams, and ensuring patients receive safe, consistent, and high-quality care.
By investing in nurses and hospital staff, Oak Valley Health is investing in the future and in the health of its community.