Cejka Search Expands to Focus on Key Niches

ST. LOUIS, June 25 /PRNewswire/ — According to U.S News and World Report, the healthcare industry should continue to grow overall this year. With this growth, the need for experienced healthcare executives also is expected to increase. As a result, Cejka Search, a nationally recognized physician and healthcare executive search firm providing services exclusively to the healthcare industry for more than 25 years, has strategically expanded its leadership team to focus on two growing niches.

Bonnie Siegel and Scott Bates have been named vice presidents of healthcare information technology and healthcare foundations, respectively, in Cejka Search’s healthcare executive search practice.

“Bonnie and Scott have both proven themselves as experts in specialized fields and enable us to deliver to our clients a significant competitive advantage in hiring top talent in these growing niches,” said Carol Westfall, president of Cejka Search. “Along with our seasoned leaders and experienced search team, they will help continue to further propel our executive search division forward.”

The U.S News and World Report also stated that healthcare informatics is one of the ten “ahead of the curve” fields. This point was further enforced on Capitol Hill where Dr. William Hersh, professor and chairman of the Department of Medical Informatics at Oregon Health and Science University, reported that the nation’s healthcare system will need 40,000 additional IT employees based on recent study data from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Analytics.

Similarly, healthcare foundations are growing in importance. A recent benchmarking study published by the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy cites a direct correlation between fundraising effectiveness and investment in foundation staff. Consequently, many healthcare organizations are increasing budgets and adding senior-level staff to compete for scarce donor dollars.

“There continues to be strong demand for strategic leaders to meet the increasing challenge facing healthcare organizations to deliver quality care and financial strength,” Westfall said. “We are committed to supporting our clients’ success with our well-rounded team of highly experienced consultants who create a high-touch client experience while successfully completing the search.”

According to the Association of Executive Search Consultants’ annual outlook survey, released in January 2008, the executive search industry should continue to grow throughout the year. The survey specifically predicted healthcare to be among the strongest sectors for executive search companies in 2008.

Modern Healthcare ranks Cejka Search among the top five healthcare executive search firms nationwide. The Cejka Search Executive Search division staff has grown by 20 percent since the company’s late 2007 move to new headquarters with expanded offices, technology and amenities.

As vice presidents, Siegel and Bates bring extensive experience and leadership to the executive search team.

Siegel has more than 29 years of experience in healthcare information technology executive search, consulting and market research. Prior to joining Cejka Search, Siegel was vice president and executive search consultant at Hersher Associates, Ltd., a national healthcare executive search firm specializing in healthcare information technology search. Her experience also includes a senior leadership position at a national healthcare IT consulting firm. Siegel is an expert at recruitment of all executive IT levels including: CIOs, VPITs, deputy CIOs, clinical IT and informatics professionals and director-level IT positions.

Focusing on healthcare foundations, Bates served in management, executive search and consulting roles in nonprofit fundraising and development in the Chicago area for much of his early career. He recently served as executive director of the St. John’s Mercy Medical Center Foundation in St. Louis. With more than 12 years of national executive search experience, Bates has also successfully managed search committees and the recruitment of CEOs, CFOs and many key director-level positions.

Both Siegel and Bates are esteemed experts in their respective fields. Siegel frequently presents at national association conferences and has been published and quoted in industry publications. Bates has published articles and spoken widely on issues such as succession planning, executive career development and the unique process and challenges of recruiting philanthropy professionals.

Siegel earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill. and Bates earned a Bachelor of Science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

About Cejka Search

Cejka Search is a nationally recognized executive and physician search organization providing services exclusively to the healthcare industry for 25 years. Partnering with organizations in pursuit of the nation’s best healthcare talent, Cejka Search completes assignments across all levels of the healthcare continuum. Cejka Search is a Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. company, a leading provider of healthcare staffing services in the United States.

For more information visit http://www.cejkasearch.com/, contact Jessi Meredith (Black Twig Communications) at 314-255-2340 or Gretchen Harman (Cejka Search) at 314-726-1603.

Cejka Search

CONTACT: Jessi Meredith of Black Twig Communications, +1-314-255-2340,for Cejka Search; or Gretchen Harman of Cejka Search, +1-314-726-1603

Web site: http://www.cejkasearch.com/