The EpiCURA Hospital Centre has over 2,500 employees and 500 doctors in service, spread across seven locations, including Ath, Baudour, and Hornu. The hospital conglomerate strives to achieve a combination of high-quality medicine, local care, advanced technological equipment, and a relaxed setting. While EpiCURA currently has 806 beds, it is always striving to expand. The hospital is undergoing substantial renovation projects to provide its dynamic team, the population of Borinage, and the area of Ath with a more efficient care environment. They hope this will allow them to realize their mission – guaranteeing all patients free access to healthcare and equal treatment, with respect for their beliefs – to an even greater degree.

Challenge: EpiCURA searched for a solution to manage many job vacancies and applications

'You could describe EpiCURA as a small town,' says Laurie Janssens, HR specialist at EpiCURA. 'What with its several thousand employees and hugely diverse job profiles. From doctors, nurses, and pharmacists to cleaners and catering staff, all are directly employed by the hospital, with EpiCURA taking its role as a large employer within the region very seriously.' The hospital sector has high staff turnover rates, and EpiCURA is no exception. Furthermore, this hospital is in a significant expansion phase, meaning its workforce will keep growing. As a result, the number of vacancies and job applicant journeys is climbing steadily. 

HR activities, including recruiting, are also not outsourced. It means high pressure on the HR department, which has to manage 300 recruits per year, including highly specialized profiles and very demanding roles (including night and weekend shifts). 'While it's not always easy to fill these posts, luckily, we are an attractive employer for anyone looking for a warm and welcoming working environment,' explains Laurie Janssens.

From 100% paper to 100% digital

Until ten years ago, there was another obstacle for the HR team: the entire recruitment process was 100% paper-based. As Laurie Janssens recalls, 'the application letters came in by post and were arranged into folders for each vacancy, which wasted a lot of time. What's worse, this would result in creating an unprofessional impression. For example, if a candidate rang us up to find out what was going on with their application, it would take us way too long to find their details amongst all the different folders.' An efficient digital tool that saves all the information, processes it centrally, and makes it easy to search for was desperately needed – especially given that the number of vacancies just kept growing.

In 2014, EpiCURA went in search of the best possible digital tool. After comparing numerous options, CVWarehouse came out on top. There were various arguments for this, recalls Laurie Janssens: 'Firstly, as a Belgian business, we are always keen to give companies from our own country an opportunity. They know our market better than any other foreign competitor. Secondly, CVWarehouse is a human-scale company. While not a start-up, it is far from being a faceless multinational.

Moreover, their proposed tool ultimately came out on top in terms of price and functionality. Last but not least, they convinced us with their outstanding customer service and quick reaction time. That was very reassuring, given the size of the leap we had to make.'