Lucida is a rising star

Bruce Cerullo, Jim Burns and Arthur Damon, all from Reading, along with two other partners, launched their business on Sept. 5. The company places nurses, allied health professionals as well as IT and clinical informatics professionals across the United States.

“We’re really catering to what the client and the candidate need,” said Damon, who is the VP of Nurse Staffing Group.

“A lot of companies do the volume game trying to put a square peg in a round hole,” said Lucida Chairman Bruce Cerullo. “We have a highly customized model.” He explained they try to address the special needs of both the health care professional and the hospital.

Lucida has three types of placement. One is the long-term temporary traveler assignment. Cerullo gave the example of a nurse from Texas that may have always wanted to try working for a large Boston hospital. Lucida will coordinate a job for her at a premier Boston hospital, find her temporary housing and travel assistance and give her benefits.

This could lead to another type of placement that of permanent placement.

“They may offer her a permanent position,” said Burns, vice president of Allied Health Group. Because he explained she is going to be a “pretty good nurse” as their hiring process is “pretty rigorous.” Local nurses who may want to change jobs without their current employer knowing may also avail themselves of Lucida’s services to find a new permanent job.

The third type of placement is called local traveler. “[Healthcare professionals] have the benefit of working when and where they want,” said Cerullo. “They like the variety, not being locked down to one hospital. They have the benefits of travel while they live at home.” Most assignments of this type last two to four months, according to Cerullo.

Four of the five men who started Lucida all knew each other previously from working at Cross Country-TravCorps, a healthcare staffing firm with revenues of $500 million.

“We had a great run together,” said Cerullo. “Then I took time off. This is the last thing I thought I’d be doing.”

But when Cerullo, who is the primary investor, was approached by the others, he realized that the timing was right. “I saw the demand for skilled nurses, another looming shortage. With the shortage dynamic the timing is right to grow a business. So we started on this journey together.”

“The most interesting dynamic,” Cerullo said, “is the heavy demand for clinic savvy informatic technical professionals.” He explained that former nurses, pharmacists and lab people with great computer skills are needed to bridge the gap between healthcare and technical professionals.

“‘Be Good, Do Good,’” is the company motto, Cerullo said. “This time we own [the business] so we’re going to channel some of the be good to do good.”

Cerullo worked as a volunteer and fundraiser for a number of non-profit, children focused organizations before starting Lucida. When the group started the company they decided a part of their mission would be to channel some of their profits each year to children’s charities. They established the Lucida Foundation, which will receive 10 percent of each year’s operating profits to provide grants to established charities that focus on children’s health, well being and education.

The group’s founders admit that they selfishly picked Reading as the location for the business. However, said Cerullo, “Reading has a large number of really great nurses and healthcare professionals, the local connection and trust as local people has been a nice and unexpected benefit.”

Burns said he has lived in Reading for seven years and has three children in the school system.

“It’s a good place to start a family,” he said. “It’s a great community. We’re delighted about [Lucida’s] space on Main Street. It’s a great commute.”

The men hope to build the business so that eventually 80 percent of business will come from out of state.

“We’re in the early stages,” said Cerullo. “We’re determined to grow this company into a national company over time like our former company.”

“We’re emptying our own trash and opening our own envelopes, doing whatever it takes,” Cerullo said.