To prospective teammates,

I'm the medical director for Sound's hospital medicine practice at Mercy One North Iowa Medical Center in Mason City, Iowa. I have been a part of Sound since 2019 and welcome interest from physicians coming out of training or desiring a career change. We are seeking a Part-Time Physician to join our team as soon as possible, working 7 shifts per month. I'd like to share more about it, specifically about our people, practice, and purpose, as you consider options:

• We are a closely-knit, established team of seven physicians. Along with myself as medical director, we have one clinical performance nurse and one program manager.
• Our team is highly diverse in education and experience, and we come from all over the world.
• Our team has an excellent relationship with the administration. We have been partnering with Mercy since April 2015, and we are a trusted and consulted team on many hospital-wide initiatives.
• As a team, we value our collaboration with the nursing staff and specialists throughout the hospital. We participate in multi-disciplinary rounds daily, enhancing our relationships with each other and our patients.
• Every team member is involved in a committee of their choosing within the hospital.
• As a team, we enjoy spending time together outside work by golfing, kayaking, bowling, and taking turns hosting dinners at our homes.
• We proudly sponsor H1B and J1 Waiver visa candidates, and Sound has excellent in-house visa specialists and our licensing and credentialing experts. All required filing fees for the visa are paid, and services are covered by Sound.

• Our team serves patients within our 350-bed hospital, and while a larger portion of our patients are geriatric, we see a wide variety of diagnoses in adults of all ages. Our hospital serves as a regional referral center for 14 counties and 6 critical access hospitals in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota.
• We proudly teach residents from the Mercy One internal medicine and family medicine programs and other community-based residents and medical students who ask to spend time with our team.
• MercyOne's critical care team manages all ICU patients. However, our team admits patients into the ICU.
• Our team is not responsible for procedures; however, we do run codes and rapid responses.
• Our schedule is predictable, as 7 on - 7 off. 7 am-7 pm and 7 pm-7 am. All team members primarily workday shifts; however, everyone rotates and works a few weeks of nights each calendar year.
• Our goal is to have 15-17 encounters daily, including admissions. This can ebb and flow depending on the time of year and staffing.
• As a team, we meet every four weeks. We often have a guest speaker as a part of our agenda so we can learn and build relationships with community partners.
• Put EMR is Cerner, and we are scheduled to transition to EPIC in May of 2025!
• Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life, and AD&D insurance, long- and short-term disability, 401k with match, paid medical malpractice and tail coverage, and annual CME allowance.

• We put patients first. Always.
• A focus on growth and development is a key feature of Sound's practices, where teammates can expand their careers here locally and within the broader medical group.
• We're a community-minded team and encourage our team members who want to contribute in and out of the hospital to help make our local community thrive.

Mason City is a medium-sized North Iowa community with everything you need. We enjoy a low cost of living in our family-oriented neighborhoods. We have excellent schools, dining options, parks, golf courses, and a huge water park. Clear Lake, Iowa, is a community eight miles away and is a vacation destination for all Iowa residents in the summer.

To learn more, please reach out to my recruiting partner, Jennifer Warner, who will put you in touch with me.

Suraj Pazhoor, MD
Medical Director -Hospital Medicine
MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center