How LA General Hired 250+ Clinicians & Cut Mortality Rates

Los Angeles General Medical Center, which serves downtown LA's most complex and underserved patients, spent decades operating under a familiar staffing model: nearly all of its physicians were employed by the University of Southern California. When that longstanding partnership shifted, the medical center suddenly faced a question it had never had to answer for itself: What kind of employer was LA General?  

The Assignment

Hospital executives approached Korn Ferry with an urgent need: to hire nearly 300 physicians and providers across 19 departments as soon as possible. LA General was under pressure. USC, citing fiscal constraints, had just ended the $170 million annual affiliation that funded over 90% of LA General’s clinical staff. While that inspired immediate action, Korn Ferry advised intentional transformation: the new staff would remake every aspect of the organization. “We needed to really understand what hiring hundreds of clinicians would really mean for the future of LA General,” says Liz Bickley, who headed the project at Korn Ferry. “Who is LA General as an employer? And what employee phenotype are we looking for? Because we need to bring that to market."

Define Who You Need. Then Define Who You Are.

The physician culture at USC was long rooted in research and academia. LA General is a different animal: a tough, multidisciplinary, mission-driven environment hosting 150,000 emergency visits a year, frequented by patients with layered medical and social needs. The physicians who thrive there weren't necessarily the ones who had succeeded in an academic model. Korn Ferry's initial task was to help LA General define who it was, who it wanted to be, and how to tell that story publicly.

A team of LA General executives and Korn Ferry consultants built employee Success Profiles—defining the skill sets, values and mindsets of right-fit candidates. The phenotype that emerged was specific: physicians who perceived nurses and other clinical staff as equal members of the team, rather than subordinates; clinicians who served because the work mattered to them, not for the prestige; and multidisciplinary clinicians who could care for patients with intersecting needs—a skill set that healthcare often struggles to identify and reward.  

New employer brand messaging followed, positioning LA General as a fulfilling workplace for clinicians who care about the mission as much as the medicine. “It was about finding people who saw the value of the team, and who could work with patients with less ego and more humility,” says Bickley. Hiring 250 people who perceived their work that way would deeply reshape the culture in a patient-first, mission-driven direction.  

Using Korn Ferry's Nimble Recruit, an AI-powered platform for high-volume hiring, the Korn Ferry team identified physicians and clinicians who fit both the roles and the new organizational identity. "Each physician presented to us was thoroughly vetted and matched not only the job requirements, but also, importantly, our unique organizational culture and values," says Brad Spellberg, MD, Chief Medical Officer at LA General. In all, 273 mission-aligned clinicians joined LA General.

Great Outcomes Follow Great Hires

LA General was, understandably, concerned about patient care stability during such a large hiring shift, and closely tracked patient data, including metrics on safety and mortality. What started as an urgent staffing engagement quickly became measurable clinical improvement. The patient mortality index of the hospital declined from 1.3 (30% excess deaths) to 0.7 (30% below predicted deaths). The hospital’s Leapfrog grade, a closely-watched indicator of hospital safety, climbed from a C to a B, and then, for the first time ever, to an A, which the hospital has held since. "For us, it was a unique opportunity to show how our work makes a broader impact on patient care and outcomes,” says Bickley.  

The financial implications were significant, too; a higher Leapfrog grade can translate into better reimbursement over time.

Lessons Learned

Korn Ferry runs hiring campaigns many times larger, but the LA General project had a uniquely far-reaching impact, with ongoing positive community outcomes. The process — defining the employer brand, building Success Profiles, hiring against them, and tying the whole effort to clinical outcomes that affect thousands of patients every week — is what allowed a single hiring effort to improve patient mortality. “The right hiring solution can drive measurable ROI,” says Bickley.  

For health systems facing their own pivots — such as a service line expanding, a partnership unwinding, or a new payer environment — the LA General story argues for taking the time to define organizational brand and mindset, and anticipating the ongoing influence of the right hires. “We could not have achieved these results without the partnership of Korn Ferry,” says Spellberg. “Their dedication, expertise, and unwavering support have been crucial to our success.”

How We Can Help

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