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Ever since the onset of the pandemic, UVA Health University Medical Center has been establishing new hiring pathways, including the Nursing Externship Program and PassportUSA, to ensure patients consistently have access to high quality nursing care. The latest initiative comes from Nursing Director Debbie Lewandowski, RN, MBA, BSN, OCN, who stumbled onto NurseMatch, a company that connects Canadian nurses with job opportunities in the United States. 

“Debbie heard about hospitals in Texas and Florida that were using NurseMatch and asked me to check into it,” recounts Susan Prather, MSN, RN, Clinical Program Coordinator for Nursing Initiatives, Center for Hiring Excellence. “I cold called one of the hospitals and asked them to tell me about the company.” From there, Prather began organizing meetings with NurseMatch and officially started working with them in February 2024 to bring qualified nurses from Canada to University Medical Center.

Filling in Gaps and Supporting Growth 

Initially, UVA Health’s contract with NurseMatch arranged for 40 experienced nurses to address immediate staffing needs. “They’re Canadian citizens, but many of them come from the Philippines, India, and several countries within Africa,” Prather explains. “However, working in Canada has familiarized them with many of the same systems and processes we use here in the U.S.”

Starting out, Prather inquired into the kinds of nurses that were available for immediate work. NurseMatch responded by sending her compatible resumes and setting up meetings with potential new recruits to ease the hiring process. “The really nice thing about NurseMatch,” Prather points out, “is there are new hires that can be here as early as six weeks later, where PassportUSA takes around 18 months to two years.”

Jennifer Louise Mellott, RN, MSN, who has been working at UVA Health since 1990, agrees with Prather’s sentiment. Since December 2024, Mellot has been working with PassportUSA to hire international nurses, and now she assists Prather with hiring through NurseMatch. “We still have about 100 more Passport nurses to come in,” says Mellott. 

The project with NurseMatch has been such a great success that it resulted in UVA Health more than tripling their contract to 120 nurses, ensuring a steady pipeline of highly skilled nurses to support the growth of multiple service areas across University Medical Center. “It’s been really neat to watch how Susan has run with NurseMatch,” Mellott says. “She figures out what the nurses’ talents are and the best units to talk to and melds the two worlds together. She’s been here for 43 years, so she knows who to talk to. She’s amazing!” 

Destination Charlottesville

As Prather and Mellott continue to work with NurseMatch, they reflect on the reasons many nurses are coming to the United States. As Prather says, “The cost of living in Toronto is outrageously high, so they’re looking to come for a lower cost of living. A lot of them also have family and friends in the States and want to move closer to them.”

Other nurses are simply interested in experiencing the United States for the first time and deciding if it’s a good, long-term fit. What they all have in common, says Mellott, is their enthusiasm. “We’ve hired nurses for transplant, the newborn Intensive Care Unit, the Cancer Center … they are all really dedicated to their positions and to the culture here.”

“For me, I’ve seen a lot of career growth,” says Lady Ann Tubo, RN, a new hire who came with her husband, Harold Regencia, RN. “I’ve been working in the operating room for maybe ten years, but working for UVA Health has opened up new opportunities for certifications and even a master's degree,” she says. For Regencia, coming to Charlottesville offered him a second chance. “I was out of bedside for ten years, but UVA Health gave me a chance to go back and move forward in my career as an RN.” 

Working at UVA Health has offered the couple much more than new career opportunities. As Harold puts it, “We regained our life. Now, we can appreciate a work/life balance. As a couple with kids, we’re even thinking of settling here, as we’ve observed how Charlottesville is a family-friendly town. We’re really grateful for what we have here.”

Amberleigh Powell, RN, MSN, Nurse Manager, Pre-Op/PACU at UVA Health Surgical Care Riverside, has felt this firsthand with her new NurseMatch hire, Nicole Blake, RN. “I think Nicole has been a superb team member since she started. She has taken the initiative to help set up and run the procedure room and is even mentoring another nurse in the position. She has been very valuable to our organization.”  

A Welcoming Community

Prather and Mellott have found that team members across University Medical Center continue to welcome international nurses with great enthusiasm. Some have joined together to make a “UVA International Nurses” Facebook group, while other nurses within the program help new arrivals get acclimated to the workplace and larger community. “They really embrace each other,” Mellott observes. “They reach out to help each other across all cultures.”