A place-based, partner-led strategy that helped support the recruitment of more than 20 physicians
The situation
Brockville was facing significant health workforce pressure. The challenge could not be solved through job postings or an employer campaign alone.
Healthcare professionals considering relocation were making a broader life decision. They needed to understand the professional opportunity, but also housing, family needs, community connections, lifestyle and whether Brockville was a place where they could settle and stay.
Recruitment had become a community-level issue involving access to care, workforce stability, economic development and public confidence.
My role
I initiated and led the early strategy behind Brockville Life while working in-house as Marketing and Communications Manager at Brockville General Hospital.
I helped move the work beyond a hospital recruitment campaign and frame it as a coordinated community response. I developed the initial strategic concept, shaped the place-based proposition and worked with healthcare, municipal, employment and community partners to establish a shared model.
Recognizing that the initiative required specialized creative expertise, I engaged a regional marketing team and a local videographer to lead the marketing, creative and visual storytelling strategies.
My role included:
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Reframing recruitment as a community challenge, not only an employer issue
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Developing the initial strategic concept
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Identifying the need for one candidate-facing entry point
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Shaping the story of Brockville as a place to live, work, practise and belong
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Connecting the initiative to healthcare and community priorities
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Building alignment among municipal, healthcare and employment partners
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Engaging and briefing specialized creative partners
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Supporting governance, funding discussions and public accountability
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Helping move the concept from strategy into implementation
The regional marketing team led campaign strategy, channel planning and marketing execution. The local videographer led the visual concept and production, helping potential candidates picture the people, place and quality of life behind the opportunity.
The strategic approach
I treated recruitment as a pathway, not a campaign.
Brockville Life was designed to connect the community story with the practical support candidates needed to move from initial interest to a recruitment conversation.
The model included:
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One public-facing front door: A central place for candidates to begin instead of navigating several organizations
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A work-and-life proposition: A place-based story presenting Brockville as both a professional opportunity and a place to build a life
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Concierge-style support: Help with relocation questions, community connections and next steps
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Specialized creative leadership: Regional marketing and local video expertise to make the opportunity visible and credible
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Partner coordination: Connected roles across healthcare, municipal leadership, employment services and community partners
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Recruitment follow-through: A pathway for moving candidate interest toward conversations, visits and employer processes
The model worked because strategy, creative execution, candidate support and active recruitment capacity were connected. No single organization or campaign could carry the full challenge alone.
The impact
Brockville Life created a more coherent recruitment pathway for candidates and partners.
It gave potential candidates one place to start, made the relocation decision easier to understand and helped the community present a coordinated offer rather than a collection of separate recruitment messages.
The model became part of a broader regional recruitment effort that has helped attract more than 20 physicians to the area.
That outcome reflects the combined work of healthcare organizations, municipal leaders, employment and community partners, creative specialists and recruitment professionals. Brockville Life provided the place-based story and candidate-facing foundation that helped those efforts work together.
Most importantly, the initiative demonstrated that smaller-community recruitment is not only a visibility problem. Candidates are more likely to move forward when the job, the place, the practical supports and the recruitment follow-through operate as one connected experience.
How this shaped my consulting work
This work was completed while I was part of the hospital team, but it became an important foundation for my future consulting practice.
It showed me what becomes possible when organizations stop treating a shared challenge as someone else’s responsibility. It also strengthened my interest in bringing together leaders, partners and specialized expertise to build practical solutions that no organization could deliver alone.
That commitment to collaboration, clear roles and integrated strategy continues to shape how I support clients today.