Case Study

How one of the largest SNF operators reached recruitment success with Apploi Reach

Challenge

Saber Healthcare Group needed a more strategic and flexible way to manage recruitment marketing spend across thousands of roles, while improving applicant flow for hard-to-fill positions and reducing time-to-hire rates

Solution

With Apploi Reach, Saber Healthcare Group tapped into expert industry guidance to optimize job sponsorship strategies, allocate budgets intelligently, and drive consistent, high-volume applicant flow.

Saber Healthcare Group is one of the largest skilled nursing operators in the country, with approximately 140 facilities across seven states and continued expansion underway. As a provider of both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care, Saber’s mission centers on delivering high-quality patient care, powered by a workforce that spans nursing, administration, and essential support roles.

That workforce starts with hiring. And at Saber’s scale, hiring is constant. With high demand, steady turnover in certain roles, and aggressive growth plans, Saber needed a recruitment marketing strategy that could assist them in maintaining the highest performance in their recruiting efforts.

Managing spend without losing momentum

Before partnering with Apploi Reach, Saber was already investing in job sponsorships. But managing that investment was far from simple.

“We had an outside agency of record that was managing the dollar spend,” said Nancy Pehanic, Director of Talent Acquisition at Saber Healthcare Group. “So we were sponsoring, but it was not easy to manage.”

The process created friction. Requests had to go through third parties, strategy changes took time, and visibility was limited.

In the past two years alone, Apploi Hire coupled with Apploi Reach generated over 89,000 qualified applicants, who went on to interview for Saber’s open roles.

“That is not the case now,” Pehanic explained. “With Apploi Reach, coordination is optimal and new strategies are deployed quickly and efficiently, resulting in strong outcomes.”

At the same time, Saber was navigating a familiar balancing act: driving applicant volume while maintaining quality, speed, and cost efficiency. “It’s a mix of quality personnel, the number of candidates, and speed,” Pehanic said.

Other agencies offered more spend. What they needed was smarter spend.

Spending smarter with Apploi Reach

From the beginning, Saber used Apploi Hire alongside job sponsorship. But what made Apploi Reach stand out was the industry-leading consultative layer it added to recruitment marketing. Rather than acting as a middleman, Apploi Reach functioned as a strategic partner.

“It’s much easier to manage through Apploi,” Pehanic said. “They give me reports, talk about potentially having to change things around, or help determine the overall strategy of what jobs to sponsor.”

Application completion rates remained high, reaching 87% in 2024 and remained consistently strong through 2025 and into 2026.

That partnership struck a balance that Saber had not experienced before. Pehanic retained full control over spend and execution, while gaining access to expert and trusted guidance when needed.

A more strategic approach to job sponsorship

One of the most impactful shifts came from rethinking how and where recruitment marketing dollars were allocated.

Initially, Saber focused heavily on high-volume roles like nursing assistants and on major metro areas. It seemed logical, as those roles were in constant demand and large cities felt like the most competitive markets. But the data told a different story.

“We get a lot of nursing assistant applications, regardless of whether they’re sponsored or not,” Pehanic said.

With guidance from Apploi Reach, Saber adjusted its strategy. Budget shifted toward harder-to-fill roles like RNs and LPNs, and toward regions where applicant flow was lower.

78,896 applicants were generated in just the first four months of 2026, on pace to potentially exceed 2025.

Instead, they invested in areas where sponsorship could make a real difference. That shift turned sponsorship from a volume play into a precision tool.

Strategy that works: a partnership with measurable impact

Apploi Reach helped Saber refine its approach and reduce the operational burden of managing recruitment marketing at scale. By working directly with job boards and continuously optimizing campaigns using insights gathered across thousands of facilities, Apploi enabled Saber to spend less time managing recruitment logistics and more time focused on hiring the right people, faster.

This partnership quickly became a key driver of recruitment performance across Saber’s organization. With Apploi Reach and Apploi Hire working together, Saber strengthened the consistency, reach, and efficiency of its hiring efforts across multiple markets and roles.

Apploi Reach coupled with Apploi Hire generated significant growth in qualified applicants, with interview volume growing by approximately 51% by the end of 2025, supporting hiring across seven states and dozens of facilities. At the same time, Saber saw stronger hiring momentum and improved time-to-hire rates as teams were better equipped to connect qualified candidates with open roles quickly and at scale.

Beyond the numbers, the partnership gave Saber a more proactive and data-driven recruitment strategy, helping the organization adapt to workforce demands while continuing to support high-quality care delivery.

A better way to manage recruitment marketing

Today, Saber Healthcare Group operates with a level of responsiveness and insight that was not possible before.

“It is definitely worth it,” Pehanic confirmed. “I can manage my own sponsorship while having somebody help me oversee and make sure that I’m spending wisely.”

That combination of control and collaboration continues to guide their approach as they grow.

Results

460,000+ applies generated by Apploi Hire and Apploi Reach from 2024 through early 2026, resulting in over 107,000 candidate interviews requested
Consistent increase of time-to-hire rates using Apploi Hire and Apploi Reach
Reduced operational burden of managing recruitment marketing at scale

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