WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--connectRN, a leading technology-enabled platform for shift-based healthcare labor, today named former athenahealth executive, Matthew Levesque, as its new CEO. As CEO, Levesque is charged with growing the number of clinicians and facilities leveraging the company’s proprietary technology to continue to address one of the healthcare industry’s biggest challenges, clinician staffing.

The pressure on healthcare facilities to attract and retain clinical staff, while managing cost, is at a critical level. This challenge is magnified due to a growing shortage of nurses. There are more than 1 million nurses who will reach retirement age within the next 10 to 15 years, and more than 55 percent of registered nurses are reported to be age 50 or older. As these nurses move out of the workforce, they take with them years of experience that can’t be immediately replaced with less experienced nurses just beginning their careers.

connectRN’s platform is designed to connect nurses with healthcare facilities on demand, alleviating strain caused by the shortage, lowering labor cost for facilities, while at the same time providing increased compensation and flexibility for nurses. The platform offers nurses - of all levels of experience - the opportunity to control their schedule, while also enabling facilities to identify qualified, vetted nurses who are best fit for the facility. Whether the nurse is completing a degree program or has 30 years experience and is approaching retirement, connectRN more efficiently matches supply and demand.

“Nurses play a critical role in our healthcare system, serving as the primary caregiver in hospitals and long term care settings,” said Levesque. “They make up the largest cohort of health professionals and increasingly want control over their schedules. Currently, the friction associated with the agency staffing model leaves many of these nurses on the sidelines, unable to use their specialized skills. connectRN increases capacity for facilities who, in many cases, are perpetually short staffed. I am excited to work with the talented connectRN team, to help it continue to grow and address such a crucial need in our healthcare industry.”

Levesque brings two decades of healthcare IT and two-sided market experience to connectRN. Prior to joining connectRN, he was a senior operating executive at athenahealth responsible for running the technology-enabled solutions that support its cloud-based suite of products. His organization had more than 1,100 associates and provided services to more than 160,000 clinical providers. Prior to athenahealth, Levesque held management roles at priceline.com. In his new role, he will apply that experience to scaling connectRN’s technology, expanding its market reach and focusing on the clinician experience.

“I am extremely proud of what connectRN has accomplished since our launch in 2017 and excited to add Matt to the team,” said Michael Wood, co-founder of connectRN. “The company has reached the point where we can attract an executive of Matt’s caliber to lead the next exciting phase of growth.”

“connectRN is uniquely positioned to reinvent the staffing paradigm with its platform, purposely built to meet the needs of nurses and healthcare facilities,” said Jeffery Boyd, connectRN investor, Board advisor, and managing director of Compleat Angler Capital. “The aging U.S. population, combined with the demands of our clinical workforce for greater flexibility, provide a unique opportunity for connectRN’s technology based solutions.”

About connectRN

connectRN is a leading technology-enabled platform for shift-based healthcare labor. connectRN’s platform is designed to connect nurses with healthcare facilities on demand. As one of the largest shift-based platforms in the country, connectRN enables clinicians to seamlessly identify shifts, while enabling facilities to select from a pool of vetted and accredited nurses who are best fit for their facility needs. The company is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://connectrn.com/.