Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center (AzHHA) - Nurse Residency, Preceptorship and Mentorship

Description

Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center (MGRMC) is a rural non-profit critical access hospital in Safford, Arizona, serving 40,000 residents with around 50 beds. MGRM provides essential medical services to a geographically-dispersed population with unique needs.

The Challenge

Like many rural hospitals, MGRMC faced growing workforce challenges, including high turnover, staffing shortages and an increasing reliance on travel nurses ("travelers") to fill critical gaps. While necessary in the short term, this dependence on temporary staff led to rising labor costs, added strain on full-time nurses and disruptions to care continuity.

Beyond financial pressures, a lack of workforce engagement and retention data and staffing instability impacted team collaboration, patient care continuity and the quality of care. New nurses needed more structured support, preceptors had limited mentorship training and communication among staff was inconsistent.

$51.2K

Traveler Costs

dollars in traveler costs placing pressure on the hospital’s budget

$23K

Callback Costs

dollars in callback costs contributing to burnout and lower job satisfaction

$2.4K

Overtime Costs

dollars in overtime costs further stretching an already-burdened workforce

How We Did It

Through the Arizona Transition to Practice Program, supported by AzHHA and HB2691 funding, MGRMC partnered with OpusVi to implement a data-driven competency-based nurse residency, preceptorship and mentorship program designed to:

Reduce reliance on costly temporary staffing solutions
Enhance preceptor training and mentorship programs
Stabilize the workforce by improving nurse retention, wellbeing and morale
Reduce administrative burden while ensuring compliance and funding alignment
Provide rich data insights to optimize workforce development, while allowing admins and managers to better understand engagement and monitor staff retention

OpusVi’s Transition to Practice program ensured consistent, high-quality training including:

Preceptor training to strengthen mentorship and leadership
Unit-specific learning pathways to support specialty-based competency development
Competency tracking and real-time engagement monitoring for measurable outcomes
Standardized communication channels to improve collaboration and workflow
An Impact Dashboard allowing administrators to monitor workforce trends, identify and address skill gaps proactively and make informed staffing decisions

Results

The impact of OpusVi’s program at MGRMC was transformational, both financially and operationally. The hospital successfully eliminated open nursing positions, reduced reliance on costly staffing models and saw dramatic decreases in labor expenses.

As a result of partnering with OpusVi, MGRMC successfully eliminated vacancies by 100% by retaining new graduate nurses, significantly reducing costs and enhancing team collaboration.

These reductions in staffing costs provided MGRMC with the ability to reinvest in long-term workforce development and patient care improvements. This represents a major shift away from reliance on temporary contract labor, allowing for greater workforce stability and cost efficiency. The dramatic decrease in callback costs directly alleviated nurse burnout, improved morale and allowed full-time staff to maintain healthier workloads, fostering a more sustainable and engaged workforce.

100%

New grad vacancies eliminated

83%

Reduction in overtime costs

75%

Reduction in callback costs

54%

Reduction in callback costs

About Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center

Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center (MGRMC) is a rural, non-profit critical access hospital in Safford, Arizona, serving Graham County’s 40,000 residents, including families, retirees, and Native American communities. With around 50 beds, it provides emergency care, inpatient and outpatient services, surgery, maternity care, and specialty clinics. As a key healthcare provider in this agricultural and mining region, MGRMC ensures access to essential medical services for a geographically dispersed rural population.

Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center (AzHHA) - Nurse Residency, Preceptorship and Mentorship

Description

The Challenge

$51.2K

Traveler Costs

$23K

Callback Costs

$2.4K

Overtime Costs

How We Did It

Results

100%

New grad vacancies eliminated

83%

Reduction in overtime costs

75%

Reduction in callback costs

54%

Reduction in callback costs

About Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center

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