CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte doctor’s office was in desperate need of more staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point, it had 12 open positions out of 35 total.

So, managers at the Seventh Street practice had a creative idea. They sent staff home with a mission — recruit for the business among friends and family. It worked.

The new employees at Oncology Specialists of Charlotte help keep the office running from the front desk to the nurses’ station.

What You Need To Know

At one point, Oncology Specialists of Charlotte were down 12 open positions

The office hired five mother-daughter teams and is in the process of hiring a sixth

OSC says same pandemic-staffing issues are affecting country

“As the nurses we come in and get their IV started, and go over their chemotherapy routine for them, and get them started getting their chemo infusion,” Rebekah Wynn said.

Wynn, who’s been a nurse for 30 years, said she enjoys her job at OSC and has worked there for two years.

“I just like the intimate space as far as being able to talk to them, learn about their families, and be able to pray for them and different things like that,” Wynn said.

Just a few feet away, Shayla Jackson is a triage nurse. She answers patient questions over the phone and set up appointments. She took the job in November, needing a better environment and schedule for her new baby.

“After that, I didn’t really want to go back into the hospital with everything going on with COVID, and things like that, and I wanted a better schedule for my daughter,” Jackson explained.

At the front desk, Danielle Wynn takes patient temperatures, asks them a few introductory questions and informs the rest of the staff about recent arrivals.

Together, the three women are a good team, both at work and at home.

“I love working with my mom and sister. We get to see each other and I get to see exactly what they do as nurses, and then they get to see what I do as a receptionist,” Danielle Wynn said about working with her mom, Rebekah Wynn, and sister Shayla Jackson.

Rebekah Wynn’s two daughters started working there in the last few months to help fill the many open spots.

“She said, ‘We need help at work!’ And everything like that, and then she put me in touch with her manager,” Jackson said about her mom’s recruiting pitch.

“I was more than happy to come and help out and I love it here,” Danielle Wynn added.

But they are not the only mother-daughter team at the office. Now, the office has five mother-daughter groups and is in the process of hiring a sixth.

“Sometimes we ride to work together, sometimes we leave together, other times one person stays later than the other. But it has been nice to be able to communicate with them and know where they are and what they’re doing throughout the day during this COVID season we are in,” Rebekah Wynn said about working with her daughters.

It’s peace of mind for a mom, and an office, which found much-needed help right at home.

Before hiring the mother-daughter duos, Dr. Justin Favaro said the office staff had to get creative to fill gaps in the schedule.

“One of the things we’ve had to do is different people will fill different roles. For example, our office manager is very good but she also happens to be a nurse. And so, sometimes she would have to fill in for nursing duties, you know, if other people were out," Favaro said. "Everybody’s kind of trained to do different jobs to kind of cross over that way.” 

Favaro and his office managers said the situation is better now, but they are still actively looking for employees.