An Interview With Jake Frankel
Ensuring Safe Staffing Levels — Adequate staffing isn’t just a preference; it’s a patient safety issue. Addressing shortages can help reduce medical errors and improve outcomes.
As a part of our interview series “5 Things We Must Do To Improve the US Healthcare System,” I had the pleasure to interview Travis Mannon.
Travis Mannon is the CEO of FlexCare, an award-winning nationwide leader in travel nursing, allied health, and therapy talent management solutions for top healthcare facilities throughout the U.S. Since 2006, FlexCare has been committed to helping address critical personnel needs in healthcare, ensuring facilities have access to the best clinical talent to meet patient needs while unlocking career opportunities for travel clinicians and supporting them to provide the highest level of patient care possible.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into our interview, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Like many people, I struggled early in my career to find a sense of deeper meaning in my work. At the time, I was working as an IT Recruiter in San Francisco when I received a phone call that changed everything — my father had suffered a heart attack. I immediately drove 3.5 hours to be with him.
Once my father was stable, I learned that the ER nurse who triaged him immediately recognized the severity of the situation and acted fast, ensuring he received the urgent care he needed. That nurse was a travel nurse, a highly skilled clinician who temporarily fills critical staffing gaps at hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country. Travel nurses step in when facilities face shortages due to high patient demand, seasonal fluctuations, or vacancies, ensuring that communities continue to receive quality care, even in terms of staffing challenges.
That experience opened my eyes to a harsh reality: staffing shortages in healthcare are not just an operational issue; they are a life-or-death issue. In fact, according to a groundbreaking Penn Nursing CHOPR study in 2002, hospitals with high nurse-to-patient ratios were associated with a 7% increase in the likelihood of dying within 30 days of admission and a 7% increase in the odds of failure to rescue. This sentiment was confirmed again in a 2021 study by the National Institute of Nursing Research.
When hospitals don’t have enough skilled clinicians on staff, patient care suffers — leading to increased wait times, higher rates of medical errors, and even preventable complications. The ability — or inability — to secure skilled healthcare professionals directly impacts successful patient outcomes, making staffing shortages one of the most urgent issues in modern healthcare.
So, when an opportunity surfaced where I could use my skillset for something with deeper meaning? Well, I was all in and knew my skills could be better used in helping hospital facilities secure hard-to-find talent. And that’s what ultimately brought me here and continues to fuel my conviction around safe hospital staffing levels.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I wouldn’t call it interesting as much as I’d call it incredible.
At FlexCare, we’re in the business of healthcare talent, employing thousands of clinicians across the country and supporting them in every aspect of their travel healthcare career. One of the most remarkable things I’ve seen over the years is the sheer number of off-duty clinicians who find themselves in life-or-death situations outside of the hospital — at airports, on flights, at grocery stores, even on vacation — where they’ve stepped in and saved lives.
It’s incredible how often the stars align in ways that are almost unbelievable. But in reality, it’s just the nature of who these people are — clinicians who are always ready to step up, whether they’re on the clock or not.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson did you learn from it?
One of the first lessons I learned in this business was always ask detailed questions — especially when it comes to travel logistics.
For example, in one of our earlier years, we were working with a travel nurse who needed housing in California. Everything seemed pretty straightforward until, at the very last minute, we learned they weren’t traveling alone — they were bringing their horse. Yes, a full-size horse.
As you can imagine, finding housing that could accommodate both a clinician and a horse on short notice was a logistical nightmare. But we figured it out. That experience taught me a critical lesson: never assume anything. Now, we make it a point to ask the right questions upfront — because sometimes, a “travel companion” is a dog, and sometimes… it’s a 1,200-pound animal.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? How has it been relevant to your life?
“To be successful at anything, you don’t have to be different; you simply have to be what most people aren’t — consistent.”
Consistency is what sets us apart in this industry. In healthcare talent management, anyone can say they’ll deliver, but consistently delivering — in compliance, contracts, clinician support, and patient outcomes — is what makes the difference. We don’t cut corners, and we don’t take shortcuts. That attention to detail is why our clinicians and the healthcare facilities we work with trust us.
How would you define an “excellent healthcare provider”?
At FlexCare, excellence means being relentlessly committed to patient outcomes. We don’t just fill positions — we ensure that hospitals have the top-tier talent they need to provide the best possible care. It’s not about just placing people in jobs; it’s about making a difference in patient lives.
How this mindset translates to our clinicians: We define an excellent healthcare provider as someone who genuinely cares. It’s someone who doesn’t just see this as a job but understands the immense responsibility they hold in every patient interaction. At the end of the day, behind every chart and every procedure is a mother, a father, a child, a grandparent — someone who is counting on them.
What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that inspire you to be a better healthcare leader? Can you explain why you like them?
I have a lot of different interests, so I read and listen to a wide range of books and podcasts. I would say for industry specific trends; I regularly listen to Becker’s Healthcare Podcast. They bring in top healthcare executives, clinicians, and industry experts to discuss everything from workforce challenges to innovation and policy changes. It’s a great way to keep a pulse on what’s happening in healthcare and how we can proactively adjust to better serve both our clinicians and healthcare partners.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think they will help people?
Yes! While I can’t reveal too many details at this stage, this year we’ll be releasing an evolution of our technology — aimed at enhancing the experience for both clinicians and healthcare facilities. Our focus is on innovation that streamlines processes, improves access to opportunities, and delivers meaningful insights. For us, this technology is about creating practical solutions that remove barriers, support better decision-making, and ultimately improve outcomes for everyone involved. We can’t wait to share more.
According to a study cited by Newsweek, the U.S. healthcare system ranks the worst among high-income nations. Why do you think that is?
Anytime profit and patient care collide, there’s cause for concern.
We have some of the best doctors and clinicians in the world, yet our system consistently underperforms. The reason? Financial priorities often outweigh patient care.
Healthcare should never be about squeezing more revenue at the expense of quality care. If we focused on patient outcomes first, financial success would naturally follow. Instead, we see hospitals cutting staff to boost profit margins, which ultimately leads to overworked clinicians, higher error rates, and worse patient outcomes.
We don’t have a talent problem — we have a system problem. Until we shift our focus from maximizing revenue to optimizing patient care, we’ll continue to struggle.
As a “healthcare insider,” if you had the power to make changes in the U.S. healthcare system, what would they be?
- Ensuring Safe Staffing Levels — Adequate staffing isn’t just a preference; it’s a patient safety issue. Addressing shortages can help reduce medical errors and improve outcomes.
- Investing in Frontline Clinicians — The strength of our healthcare system depends on the well-being of those providing care. We need to prioritize fair compensation, support, and career growth for nurses and physicians.
- Improving Access to Care — Patients and providers should have fewer obstacles to getting and delivering necessary care. Reducing administrative burdens and streamlining processes can make a real impact.
- Driving Cost Transparency & Accountability — From hospital pricing to medication costs, greater transparency and accountability are essential for a sustainable healthcare system.
- Using AI to Reduce Administrative Burdens — Clinicians should spend more time with patients, not paperwork. Leveraging AI to automate documentation and streamline workflows can help bring the focus back to care.
What concrete steps would have to be done to actually manifest these changes? What can a) individuals, b) corporations, c) communities and d) leaders do to help?
Fixing the U.S. healthcare system requires action at every level — from individuals to corporations, communities, and leaders. Here’s how each group can contribute:
Individuals
- Advocate for safe staffing laws and transparent healthcare policies.
- Stay informed, ask questions, and support patient-first legislation.
- Respect and support clinicians — burnout is real.
Corporations
- Improve the clinician experience and invest in mental health support.
- Promote responsible business practices that prioritize patient care and clinician well-being.
Communities
- Help expand healthcare access by supporting travel clinicians, mobile clinics, and telehealth initiatives to reach underserved populations.
- Build stronger support networks for clinicians by creating peer support groups, recognition programs, and appreciation events to help combat burnout.
- Ensure local communities are equipped to handle public health crises through coordinated volunteer efforts and resource allocation.
Leaders
- Implement policies that ensure safe staffing levels to improve patient care
- Reduce administrative burdens by leveraging technology to streamline workflows
- Provide incentives for long-term careers in healthcare (loan forgiveness, better pay, mental health support).
The Bottom Line
Healthcare should focus on patients first — when that happens, everything else (better working conditions, smarter spending, stronger communities) follows. Everyone has a role in making that happen.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put intense pressure on the American healthcare system, leaving some hospital systems at a complete loss as to how to handle this crisis. Can you share with us examples of where we’ve seen the U.S. healthcare system struggle? How do you think we can correct these issues moving forward?
COVID-19 didn’t break the healthcare system — it revealed how broken it already was, particularly in staffing shortages, clinician burnout, and lack of crisis preparedness. Hospitals struggled to keep up, and many healthcare workers left the profession due to overwhelming workloads and mental health strain.
To address these issues, it became critical for healthcare facilities to implement mixed staffing model, balancing permanent staff with travel clinicians and float pools to ensure flexibility in crisis situations.
In addition to continuing to enable a mixed staffing model, mental health support for healthcare workers must be prioritized, with access to therapy, wellness programs, and workload adjustments to prevent burnout. Moving forward, the focus should shift from short-term cost-cutting to long-term resilience, ensuring that hospitals and clinicians are better prepared for future healthcare challenges.
How do you think we can address the problem of physician shortages?
While there are many ways to address the physician shortage, such as expanding residency programs and loan forgiveness, from my perspective in talent workforce management, the key is improving the physician experience, so they stay in the profession. That means reducing administrative burdens through AI and automation, implementing a mixed staffing model that integrates travel physicians, NPs, and PAs to relieve pressure, and prioritizing mental health support with better work-life balance and peer resources. Retention is just as critical as recruitment — if we don’t create an environment where physicians want to stay, the shortage will only get worse.
How do you think we can address the issue of physician and nurse burnout?
Burnout is the direct result of understaffing, administrative overload, and a lack of support. If we want to fix it, we need to:
- Fix staffing shortages so clinicians aren’t constantly in crisis mode.
- Streamline documentation so they can focus on patients, not paperwork.
- Provide mental health support — because caring for others takes a toll.
At the end of the day, clinicians don’t leave healthcare because they stop caring — they leave because they’re exhausted, unsupported, and overworked.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
If I could inspire a movement, it would be centered around humanizing healthcare — focusing on the well-being of both clinicians and patients. This would mean creating systems where clinicians are supported, valued, and empowered to provide exceptional care without the crushing burden of burnout, excessive workloads, or administrative red tape. By prioritizing safe staffing levels, mental health resources, and work-life balance for healthcare workers, we could improve patient outcomes and rebuild trust in the healthcare system. A movement like this would shift the focus from profits to people-first healthcare, ensuring that clinicians are cared for so they can continue to care for others. When we take care of the caregivers, everyone benefits.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
To learn more about FlexCare, visit our website at flexcarestaff.com, or follow us on social at Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.
Thank you so much for these insights! This was very inspirational and we wish you continued success in your great work.
Travis Mannon of FlexCare On 5 Things We Must Do To Improve the US Healthcare System was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.