Kimberly Probus, Chief Nursing Officer, El Centro Regional Medical Center

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast Summary

Episode: Kimberly Probus, Chief Nursing Officer, El Centro Regional Medical Center
Release Date: August 4, 2025
Host: Becker's Healthcare
Location: Recorded live at Becker's 15th Annual Meeting

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Introduction

In this insightful episode of the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast, hosted by Becker's Healthcare at their 15th Annual Meeting, Kimberly Probus, the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at El Centro Regional Medical Center, shares her extensive experience and leadership strategies in managing a community-sized hospital in Southern California. The conversation delves into her background, recent initiatives, workforce challenges, and invaluable leadership lessons drawn from three decades in healthcare.

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Guest Background and Organizational Overview

Kimberly Probus begins by introducing herself and providing an overview of El Centro Regional Medical Center. With a 161-bed capacity, the hospital serves a predominantly Hispanic population (approximately 95%) in a unique geographical setting near Palm Springs, San Diego, Yuma, Arizona, and Mexico.

“We are located fairly equally distant from Palm Springs, San Diego, Yuma, Arizona and Mexico right there in that little alcove. So we have quite a high number of Hispanic people in our population, about 95% or so. So it's very unique.”
[01:21] – Kimberly Probus

Kimberly holds dual doctorates in Healthcare Administration and Nursing Practice, complemented by several supporting degrees and clinical certifications. Her extensive educational background underpins her strategic approach to healthcare management and patient care within the community.

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Recent Initiatives and Achievements

Discussing the past year, Kimberly highlights a major organizational turnaround:

“My leadership team was tasked with the most difficult task, which was rescuing our hospital. And I am very proud to say that that has been done. It was a monumental effort on the part of a really talented team and I'm proud that we were able to accomplish it, especially post Covid.”
[01:54] – Kimberly Probus

A significant accomplishment has been successfully filling numerous vacancies across various departments, including nursing, pharmacy, lab, and X-ray. This effort was essential in ensuring that all patient-facing roles were staffed adequately.

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Workforce Challenges and Strategic Solutions

Kimberly addresses the persistent workforce challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly absenteeism and a perceived decline in work ethic:

“I don't believe that there is a nursing shortage in the traditional sense of the word. There's not really that big of a shortage of people who hold licenses that are valid. They're just not willing to work under the conditions that we've given them.”
[02:40] – Kimberly Probus

To combat these issues, she implemented a nine-step recruitment program as part of her overarching strategy, the Five R's: Recruitment, Retention, Reward, Recognition, and Resilience. Notably, she added Resilience to address the ongoing need for recovery post-COVID.

“My workforce challenge is getting people to come to work. And how did I fill all my positions? I have a nine step recruitment program that I use as part of my five R's.”
[03:15] – Kimberly Probus

Her approach includes multi-pronged programs aimed at filling vacancies and training local residents, emphasizing that community members are best suited to care for their own population. This localized training ensures that the hospital maintains a dedicated and culturally competent workforce.

“I'm training people in my service district to take care of their family at my hospital.”
[04:02] – Kimberly Probus

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Leadership Lessons and Insights

When discussing leadership, Kimberly imparts a profound lesson:

“You will never have a time when you have seen it all. So I've been doing this for 30 years. I've been in the C suite for about half of that time. And I keep every week there is a first something occurs that I have never seen before.”
[04:31] – Kimberly Probus

She emphasizes the inevitability of change in the healthcare industry, likening it to one of the most dynamic sectors outside of technology. Her philosophy centers on continuous learning and adaptability, recognizing that each new challenge presents an opportunity for growth and innovation.

“The one thing that is guaranteed is that there will be change. This is the most dynamic, forward moving industry outside of tech that really exists today.”
[05:07] – Kimberly Probus

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Conclusion

Kimberly Probus’s leadership at El Centro Regional Medical Center exemplifies resilience and strategic innovation in the face of unprecedented challenges. Her focus on community-based training, comprehensive recruitment strategies, and adaptive leadership provides valuable insights for healthcare professionals striving to enhance patient care and operational efficiency. As Kimberly aptly concludes, embracing change and fostering a culture of continuous improvement are pivotal for sustained success in the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare.

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Thank you for reading this summary of Kimberly Probus's insights on the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast. For more detailed discussions and expert opinions, consider listening to the full episode.

Transcript

[Hayley Rutger]

At Insight Global Health, we are dedicated to helping you and improving healthcare for everyone. That means building stronger teams and delivering sustainable solutions that truly make a difference. We offer a full spectrum of talent and technical services and deliver cross industry expertise to bring you innovative best practices to solve the problems that we face in healthcare. We're not just promising you results, we are delivering them. Visit [e-mail] this is Hayley Rutger with.

[Beckers Healthcare Host]

The Beckers Healthcare podcast and we are recording live at the Beckers 15th annual meeting. I am thrilled today to be joined by Kimberly Probus, Chief Nursing Officer at El Centro Regional Medical Center. Kimberly, thank you so much for joining me today.

[Kimberly Probus]

Thanks for having me.

[Beckers Healthcare Host]

Well, before we begin, I'd like to have you go ahead and introduce yourself, tell us a little bit more about your background and your organization.

[Kimberly Probus]

All right. I'm Kimberly Probus. I'm the Chief Nursing Officer at El Centro Regional medical center, a 161 bed community sized hospital in the desert in Southern California. We are located fairly equally distant from Palm Springs, San Diego, Yuma, Arizona and Mexico right there in that little alcove. So we have quite a high number of Hispanic people in our population, about 95% or so. So it's very unique. And some of our programs are geared toward population health that way. Myself, I have a doctorate in healthcare administration, a doctorate in nursing practice, several degrees supporting each one of those, and two clinical certifications.

[Beckers Healthcare Host]

Thank you so much for sharing that experience with us. Now I'd like to go a little bit deeper into the last 12 months at El Centro Regional Medical Center. So what's an initiative you took that you're particularly proud of?

[Kimberly Probus]

So I am fortunate to have been recruited for specific reasons. My leadership team was tasked with the most difficult task, which was rescuing our hospital. And I am very proud to say that that has been done. It was a monumental effort on the part of a really talented team and I'm proud that we were able to accomplish it, especially post Covid. So in the last 12 months, one of the things that we've managed to accomplish was filling our vacancies. So everybody who touches a patient reports to me. So nursing, pharmacy, lab, X ray, almost, almost all of them who have a role at the bedside are my folks. And getting the interdisciplinary team to work as a team has been a little bit difficult because they've not been used to it. But I'm new to this area and they're new to me. And so some of the things that I've done In the other 56 hospitals I've worked in as a consultant was trained teams on how to work well together. So the workforce challenge that remains for me is essentially work ethic. So since COVID and I'm sure that's what did it, we have had a really hard time with people not coming to work. So I don't believe that there is a nursing shortage in the traditional sense of the word. There's not really that big of a shortage of people who hold licenses that are valid. They're just not willing to work under the conditions that we've given them. So my workforce challenge is getting people to come to work. And how did I fill all my positions? I have a nine step recruitment program that I use as part of my five R's. That's what I use when I'm teaching other CNOs. And that's those stand for recruitment, retention, reward, recognition and resilience. And I had to add resilience in the last five years because we've had to learn how to recover post Covid. So my greatest workforce challenge remains vacancy due to absenteeism and not due to positions that aren't filled. So I've launched several multi pronged programs to address my own vacancies and train people who live in the valley because there's nobody better to care for the population than members of it. And so we, I mean every community hospital is only taking care of its own friends and neighbors in its service district. So I'm training people in my service district to take care of their family at my hospital.

[Beckers Healthcare Host]

Absolutely. I'm sure a lot of our listeners also had to adapt to the post Covid world similarly to how you have now. Before we wrap up here, what is the biggest lesson in leadership that you've learned?

[Kimberly Probus]

That you will never have a time when you have seen it all. So I've been doing this for 30 years. I've been in the C suite for about half of that time. And I keep every week there is a first something occurs that I have never seen before. And it's just about the time that I've learned it all. So the reason that I say is that you'll never learn at all is that with healthcare, the one thing that is guaranteed is that there will be change. This is the most dynamic, forward moving industry outside of tech that that really exists today. So I feel like if there's one thing that's guaranteed, it is change. And you can never say that you've seen it all because new things continue to happen.

[Beckers Healthcare Host]

Absolutely. Well, I really enjoyed our conversation today again, this is Haley Recker with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast, recorded live at the Beckers 15th annual meeting. Kimberly, thank you so much for joining me today.

[Kimberly Probus]

Thanks for having me. Have a great rest of your trip.

[Beckers Healthcare Host]

Thank you.