Drastically Reducing Recruitment Costs to Save Regional Medical Institutions and Care Facilities: Kumamoto’s “Tsunagu” Challenges Kyushu and Okinawa

News Highlights

“Tsunagu,” a medical and care human resources referral service originating in Kumamoto, contributes to significant reductions in recruitment costs and improvements in talent acquisition and retention rates. It supports the management of regional medical institutions and care facilities through group-wide recruitment branding, recruitment agency services, sharing of training programs and career paths, and utilization of head office functions such as labor, accounting, and IT. The company aims to expand throughout Kyushu and Okinawa in the future.

M&A Medical Editorial Department’s Perspective

The recruitment cost reduction advocated by “Tsunagu” can be a concrete solution to the dual challenges of recruitment difficulties and rising labor costs faced by regional medical and care providers. By going beyond simple human resource referrals to include recruitment branding, training/career path standardization, and even consolidation of back-office functions, it is something that managers considering business succession or M&A cannot overlook. In particular, sharing the recruitment network across the entire group creates economies of scale that are difficult for individual facilities to achieve, establishing a competitive advantage in recruitment. This will likely serve as an effective model case for businesses that feel the limitations of independent recruitment activities and seek to strengthen their management base through collaboration or integration.

Points Raised by This News

• Presents a realistic solution for reducing recruitment costs and securing human resources in regional medical and care services.
• A scheme for improving retention rates through recruitment branding, recruitment agency services, and sharing of training/career paths.
• Specificity in reducing the burden on the front lines by consolidating head office functions such as labor, accounting, and IT.
• The potential for expansion throughout Kyushu and Okinawa to promote talent mobility and inter-facility collaboration within the region.

Practical Questions Arising from This News

• What specific reduction in recruitment costs can be expected by using “Tsunagu’s” services?
• Will the sharing of training programs and career paths within the group compromise the uniqueness of each facility?
• Is there a possibility of friction with existing administrative departments when utilizing head office functions?

If You Feel “Should I Consult Too?”

Medical and care providers who feel they are spending excessive costs and time on recruitment activities without achieving satisfactory results should use the case of “Tsunagu” as a reference to review their own recruitment strategies. Especially when securing human resources is a bottleneck for management, collaboration and integration schemes such as sharing recruitment networks within the group or utilizing head office functions may lead to management improvements that are difficult to achieve independently. It is worth considering solutions through M&A or business collaboration in light of one’s own situation.

M&A Medical (CentralMedience Inc.) supports the business succession of medical corporations, hospitals, and clinics on a completely success-fee basis as an M&A support institution certified by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency. Consultations are accepted with strict confidentiality. Free consultations are available here.