How do you find candidates who aren't even looking?

Most of the directors we place aren't looking. We know who they are because we've been talking to them for years. When your seat opens, we don't post it on a job board and hope — we pick up the phone and call the three or four people who fit, and see who's ready to move.

What credentials should I expect from the candidates you send?

It depends on the seat. A Director of Surgical Services typically holds a BSN with CNOR behind their name. OR Managers and PACU leaders carry CNOR or CPAN. Surgical Techs hold CST. We also look at what they've actually done — robotic programs they've stood up, turnover minutes they've cut, satisfaction numbers they've moved. The credential gets them in the room. The track record is what we ask about.

Why not just use our internal HR team or a generalist agency?

Your internal team recruits for surgical leadership once every few years and starts from scratch each time. A generalist recruiter is juggling IT, finance, and nursing roles in the same week — they can't tell you the difference between a CNOR and a CST. We run six to twelve surgical searches at any given time. That's all we do, so we know the market, the going rates, and who's open to a move.

How fast can you actually get someone in front of us?

The Director of Surgery market is one of the most competitive in healthcare right now — strong leaders are rarely sitting idle, and the ones who are open to a move get picked up fast. We don't promise a specific timeline because every search is different, but we don't start from zero. We already know who fits your OR volume, trauma level, and case mix, so Day 1 is spent reaching out, not building a list. From there, how quickly someone lands in front of you depends on the market, the candidate's situation, and how fast your team can move on interviews.

Do candidates pay anything to work with you?

No. The hiring hospital or health system covers the fee. Candidates submit a resume and book a confidential call at no cost. We represent the candidate to the employer — they never pay us.

What's the difference between permanent and interim placement?

Permanent placement is a direct-hire search for a long-term leadership role — your next Director of Surgical Services. Interim is a short-term fix: an experienced leader who steps in for a leave, a gap, or while you run a permanent search. We handle both, for hospital ORs and ambulatory surgery centers.

Who leads Surgical Nurse Recruiter?

Surgical Nurse Recruiter is led by Chris Monroe, Founder & CEO. The firm is a division of The Clinical Recruiter, based in Franklin, Tennessee, serving hospitals, health systems, and ambulatory surgery centers across the United States.

OR Utilization

Chris Monroe 2026-02-18

OR Utilization and Block Management: Every Unused Minute Has a Price Tag

Founder & CEO, The Clinical Recruiter

When I was a CEO, I could tell you within 10 percent what our prime-time OR utilization was on any given day. Not because I was micromanaging, but because I knew that number directly impacted our operating margin. Every unused block hour during prime time is money walking out the door — an OR suite is the most expensive room in the hospital to run empty.

The benchmark is prime-time utilization, typically measured against a 75 to 85 percent target. Every block should be evaluated against historical utilization and on-time performance. When a surgeon consistently uses 60 percent of their block, that is not a punishment waiting to happen — it is a flag. The question is why, and the answer should come from a data-driven block review, not a hallway argument.

Strategic block scheduling is where utilization actually improves. Aligning block time around physician workflows, case complexity, and equipment availability — rather than seniority or habit — is the single most effective tool for driving utilization up. The key word is strategic. You are not reacting to empty rooms. You are designing a schedule that keeps high-yield rooms running at peak efficiency.

Auto-release windows close the loop. A clear 72-hour auto-release policy means unbooked block time reverts to the open pool for add-on cases, so a surgeon's unused hour does not become a dead hour. When enforced consistently, this single policy can lift utilization by several points without adding a single case to the schedule.

Finally, robotic ROI. A da Vinci system is a multi-million-dollar capital investment. Tracking console hours, cases per day per system, and block efficiency tells you whether that robot is earning its keep or sitting idle. The right surgical services leader treats robotic utilization as a financial metric, not a prestige item. That discipline is what separates a department that looks busy from one that actually performs.

Chris Monroe

Founder & CEO, The Clinical Recruiter

Former hospital CEO with 23 years of healthcare leadership experience, from food service worker to the executive suite. Chris founded The Clinical Recruiter to connect hospitals with surgical and perioperative leaders who understand the financial weight of every OR turn-time.

Optimizing OR Throughput to Reduce Case Cancellations and Delays Surgical Site Infection Prevention: Why Discipline Beats Checklists Every Time

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