Tuesday, July 22, 2025

4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Registration Desk Open

5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. 

Kick-Off Welcome Reception

BACK TO TOP

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. 

Registration Desk Open

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Full Breakfast and Coffee

GENERAL SESSION
8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. 

President's Welcome and Opening Keynote - Title TBD
Speaker: April Lewis, A. Lewis Academy

9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.  

Keynote Sponsor Vendor Demo

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. 

Refreshment Break With Exhibitors

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Regional Networking With a Purpose (By Region)

12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

1:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Stretch Break

CONCURRENT SESSION
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Proactive Talent Acquisition: Leveraging Social Listening to Connect with Top Talent Amid Market Disruptions
Speaker: Yvette Hansen BA, Director, Talent Attraction & DEIB at Baylor Scott and White Health

Our Talent Intelligence Program leverages technology, RSS feeds, and real-time industry news to stay attuned to market dynamics and identify companies experiencing significant disruptions. These disruptions include changes in leadership, financial challenges, layoffs, and negative press, all of which could impact employee stability and morale.

When the disruption has been identified we label the priority based on competitive landscape, proximity and impact. Understanding the priority, enables our team to take swift, strategic action to support affected talent and strengthen our pipeline.

CONCURRENT SESSION
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Boomerangs, Silver Medalists, and Beyond: How to Make Your Existing Database Your Best Hiring Tool Yet!
Speaker: Sarah Santilli Pelletier, VP of Operations at Fusion Marketing Group; and Kyle Robinson, RACR, Recruiter at University of Virginia

At a time where competition for top-tier healthcare talent is fierce, many organizations overlook one of their most powerful recruiting tools: their existing candidate database. Whether you utilize a cutting-edge ATS, an advanced CRM system, Excel spreadsheets, or a mix of these, this presentation will equip talent acquisition professionals with strategies to unlock and maximize the potential of their internal talent pools. Attendees will discover how to efficiently organize, identify, engage, and recruit high-quality candidates who have previously interacted with their organization—including silver medalists (candidates who narrowly missed selection), past applicants, and boomerang employees (former team members considering a return).

2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. 

Refreshment Break With Exhibitors

CONCURRENT SESSION
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. 

Recruitment resources at your fingertips: How Microsoft Platform saved us
Speakers: Traci Taylor, MSN (Ed), RN, Nurse Recruiter at Central Texas VA Health Care System; and Kristy France Smith, DNP, RN, VHA-CM, Nurse Recruiter at Central Texas VA Health Care System

Among the various factors influencing nursing recruitment and retention, evidence supports a key factor currently affecting VA Nurse Recruiters is a lack of time and usable resources to effectively communicate with leadership, hiring officials, and candidates. The current strategic hiring climate, in which more must be done with less, makes automated and simple processes for communication and metric tracking critical.

This lends importance to utilizing all resources available. This training will assist with improvement in VA Nurse Recruiter application of Microsoft Platform tools to streamline processes. The Microsoft Platform tools reviewed will include Microsoft Lists, Power Automate, PowerApp, PowerBI, Planner, and Bookings. Common uses for each with real-world examples, plus the positives and negatives of each will be discussed. Immediately after attending the session, attendees will be able to implement one strategy that improves communication with internal or external stakeholders. The use of these tools will offer a huge return on investment.

CONCURRENT SESSION
3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. 

Mastering Recruitment in the Digital Age  Harnessing SEO, Marketing Strategies, Salary Transparency & AI
Speakers: Christy Bray, MHA, CPRP-DEI, Chief Strategy Officer at PracticeLink; and Salvatore Christlieb Physician Recruitment Strategist at Baptist Health

This session provides actionable strategies for mastering healthcare recruitment in today's digital landscape. 

4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Stretch Break

GENERAL SESSION
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Embracing Change and Innovation: Your Talent Brand Strategy in the Age of Transformation
Speakers: Ryan Affolter, Partner and Talent Attraction at RogueHire; Theresa Mazzaro, RN, CHCR, RACR, Recruitment Manager at Fairfax Radiology; John Heffron Director of Talent Acquisition at Samaritan Health Services; and Daniel Reynolds Fusion Recruitment Marketing

The recruitment landscape is rapidly evolving. As digital, social, and popular recruitment marketing and branding channels like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed undergo significant changes, it's crucial to reevaluate your employer branding strategy. Join us for an insightful discussion with a panel of industry experts, including Ryan Affolter, Theresa Mazzaro, John Heffron, and Daniel Reynolds. These updates may significantly impact your brand's visibility, cost, and candidate experience. With their deep leadership and experience, this promises to be a thought-provoking exploration.

Join us to learn actionable strategies to enhance your employer brand, attract top talent, and improve employee retention.

5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Exhibit Hall Reception

BACK TO TOP

Thursday, July 24, 2025

7:30 a.m. – 5:15 p.m. 

Registration Desk Open

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Full Breakfast and Coffee 

8:00 a.m. – 8:20 a.m.

Vendor Demo #1

8:30 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.

Vendor Demo #2

8:50 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Stretch Break

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Keynote Session - Title TBD
Speaker: Charlie Saffro

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. 

CONCURRENT SESSION
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. 

It Is Who You Know: Creative Ways to Network
Speaker: Lee Silber, Award Winning Speaker at Positive-Lee Speaking

Surveys tell us the biggest benefit from attending a conference is the education and networking opportunities. This session puts the two together. We'll learn creative ways to build our contacts list and get to know and connect with our fellow attendees.

We'll explore how to get the most out of social media to build business relationships. We'll cover shortcuts to expanding our reach and the benefits of playing the long game when it comes to winning people over.

This session of course is about peer-to-peer connections, but also how to quickly find common ground with strangers—and gain the courage to approach them. In the end the value of knowing key people and having a wide range of connections and how to make them is an invaluable tool in health care recruitment.

CONCURRENT SESSION
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. 

Transforming Your Recruiting Department into an In-House Agency 
Speaker: Todd Youse, SHRM TA Certified, Sr. Director of Talent Acquisition at KabaFusion

In this presentation, attendees will be able to take away ideas and best practices on how to transform their recruiting department/recruiters into retained search partners and operate like a retained search agency.  Too many times, recruiters simply become paper pushers and aren't truly valued as a talent partner.  The goal of this session is to help empower them to be that trusted partner and learn best practices on managing passive talent.

CONCURRENT SESSION
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. 

Navigating Role Restructuring: Tools for Recruiter Resilience and Applicant Support
Speaker: Lisa Rigoli, PCC, Leadership Coach & HR Consultant at Element of Change

This workshop equips leaders with a strategic blueprint to protect psychological safety during organizational upheaval. Participants will explore three key strategies: identifying safety risks, developing mitigation plans, and building a proactive safety culture. Through case studies and interactive discussions, leaders will gain actionable tools to enhance team cohesion, leadership effectiveness, and psychological well-being during transitions.

11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Employment Setting/Service Line Networking (By Service Line)

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. 

Networking Lunch With Exhibitors

GENERAL SESSION
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. 

Elevating the Candidate Experience: Harnessing AI for Personalization and Engagement 
Speaker: Kat Kibben, Founder, CEO at Three Ears Media

Everyone is talking about using AI in recruiting, but how do you use the same tools as everyone else and still stand out? How can you add a human touch in the age of AI? What bias should you be looking for in the process of embracing technology in the hiring process?

If embracing AI ethically in your recruiting and HR process has been on your to-do list, this session is for you. Learn from job post writing expert Katrina Kibben how to use AI to humanize recruiting while eliminating bias to create a future of work your team can be proud of.

What’s In It For You
See why AI won’t be taking your job any time soon, Understand why it’s harder than ever to stand out to candidates, Measure success and get the results you actually want Learn to address bias with hiring managers and technology, And more!

GENERAL SESSION
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. 

How to Handle Hiring Objections, To Recruit the Best Talent
Speaker: Chris Sund, President/COO at Uniti Med

Are you looking to master the art of handling hiring objections and not losing great candidates? Join us for an engaging presentation titled “How to Handle Hiring Objections, to Recruit the Best Talent.”

In this dynamic session, we will delve into proven strategies and techniques to effectively address objections, whether in your personal or professional life. Discover the four keys to remember when handling objections, including the importance of patience, focus, tone, and the Golden Rule. Moreover, we’ll explore the LAARC method (Listen, Acknowledge, Ask, Respond, Confirm) to create a comprehensive toolkit for objection resolution.

With practical examples and actionable insights, this presentation will empower you to confidently tackle objections, build better relationships, and ultimately achieve your goals.

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. 

Thursday Night Themed Party

BACK TO TOP

 Friday, July 25, 2025

Recruiting Rosetta Stone: Using Emotional Intelligence as a universal langue for Healthcare Recruitment
Speaker: Nathaniel Brandon Leahy, SHRM-CP, Talent Experience and HR Operations Specialist at McKesson

For many individuals in the healthcare recruiting space, the luxury of being able to specialize in just one type of role is a very foreign concept. Often times, Recruiters and HR/TA Professionals find themselves having to drastically change gears from one interview to the next; Your interview with a nurse is going to be different than one with a receptionist, or insurance specialist, or a Dosimetrist. Instead of having to keep all the terminology and vocabulary correctly organized in your brain, using the tools of Emotional Intelligence can act as a universal language between you and the various hiring leaders you support.

While working at Compass Oncology, part of The US Oncology Network, Brandon Leahy developed a process focused heavily on the tools and language of EI to be a more agile partner to the many hiring leaders and managers across the practice. By putting the Human back into "Human Resources", Brandon was able to understand the EI traits needed for particular roles and department.

Legal Update
Speaker: Hilary A. Habib, partner at SheppardMullin

11:15 a.m. 

Conference Adjourns

BACK TO TOP