Healthcare staffing firm Fusion promoted Jenna Berg to chief operating officer to help lead the company’s daily business operations. Berg, whose previous title was VP and general counsel, will continue to lead Fusion’s legal team.

“What’s exciting is that I get to be a part of defining and growing the role because we’ve not had a COO in the past,” Berg said in an interview with SIA. “The initial goal of the role is to really oversee the sales leadership and help them support our sales team.”

The job also includes working to keep the sales team aligned with the rest of the firm. Fusion has built expertise in sales and healthcare staffing, Berg said. Her job is aimed at bringing the right people and decision-makers into the room and creating alignment to proceed forward.

“This promotion reflects Jenna’s strong leadership and guidance during an unpredictable period in the healthcare industry,” Corey Watton, president and CEO, said in a press release. “Fusion’s employees, healthcare travelers and facility partners will benefit from having Jenna in this crucial role because of her strong skills in advocating for the people and structures that are caring for patients across the country.”

Berg joined Omaha, Nebraska-based Fusion in 2022. Her previous experience includes working for 10 years at a global franchise network as well as five years as a prosecutor in Nebraska.

“You get to experience a lot of real life, interesting legal issues,” Berg said of the prosecutor job.

She also takes on the role as growth in much of the overall healthcare staffing market has slowed after a period of high demand during Covid-19.

“What we talk about around here all the time is we need to move past Covid, that Covid happened and really adjust to our new normal,” Berg said.

Healthcare staffing revenue is set to contract 11% this year after growing by 105% at its height in 2021, according to the US Staffing Industry Forecast: March 2024 Update.

 A big part of moving past is adjusting mindset and expectations, she said. The industry had shifted and companies must reteach recruiters on what it means to access leads and find jobs. It’s not much different from pre-Covid, but many new recruiters hadn’t experienced recruiting in the prepandemic days.

“We’re in a good, healthy place, but it feels like it’s not because of what we experienced at the height of Covid and the real boom in the industry that we experienced,” Berg said.