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NORTH VALLEY HOSPITAL RANKS ABOVE FORTUNE 500 ‘TOP 10 BEST’ IN PLANETREE SURVEY
The “100 best companies to work for,” according to FORTUNE 500 Magazine, include Planetree affiliate, Griffin Hospital. But North Valley Hospital scored even higher on many indices in a recent staff satisfaction survey conducted by Planetree, Inc.
“These are some of the highest overall scores of staff satisfaction we have ever seen,” said Planetree CEO Susan Frampton, PhD of North Valley Hospital employees. Frampton traveled from Derby, CT to Whitefish to make the presentation. Frampton’s offices are in the famous Griffin Hospital that houses the Planetree, Inc. headquarters.
“There is a tight correlation between patient satisfaction and staff satisfaction,” Frampton said, who demonstrated the truth of that statement in her presentation to the entire North Valley Hospital Staff.
“Patient-centered approaches resonate with caregivers, in that they focus hospital resources and attention on the needs of patients, contributing to a strong sense of pride and high employee satisfaction,” stated Frampton whose work is focused on culture change in health care, and implementation of patient-centered approaches to care. Prior to her work with Planetree, Frampton worked in several hospitals in the areas of community education, wellness and prevention, planning, and development of integrative medicine service lines. Frampton received both masters and doctoral degrees in medical anthropology from the University of Connecticut, and has numerous publications to her credit.
CEO Craig Aasved agrees. Aasved has been a leader in the Planetree patient-centered efforts at North Valley Hospital since he, Maura Fields, RN, Chief Clinical Officer and Drs. Kalbfleisch and Erickson, visited Griffin Hospital and Planetree Headquarters in 2002. Creating an environment wherein employees all feel they are a part of caring for the patient became a stated intention of the North Valley Hospital Family.
“Everyone is a caregiver, regardless of their job description,” said Susan Catt, Director of Human Resources at NVH. Carol Blake, RN Executive Director of Foundation/Community Relations echoes the Planetree efforts and notes the backing and support of Hospital and Foundation Boards is key.
The Planetree survey showed many similarities between the highly recognized Griffin Hospital employees and the North Valley Hospital staff. Employees strongly agree ‘they take pride in their work,’ and that a ‘family or team feeling is present.’
Hospital employee satisfaction and well-being is directly related to patient satisfaction and indirectly related to savings in healthcare costs. Employee retention, due to a satisfying work environment, teamwork, the open attitudes of administration and supervisors, and a trusting workplace environment, translate into dollars saved in recruitment, training, and orientation.
In the field of nursing, Traveling Nurses must be hired to fill vacant positions at a much higher pay scale. “It is a good business strategy to retain people,” stated Frampton, who estimates nursing turnover costs to be $29,295 to $49,000 per vacancy.
Griffin Hospital houses the headquarters of Planetree, Inc. and is a non-profit acute care community hospital. Salaries at Griffin are estimated at 5% to 7% lower than other area hospitals, but employee turnover rates are extremely low. In 2005, Griffin received 5100 applications for a total of only 160 open positions (Griffin Hospital staff is about four times larger than North Valley Hospital’s current staff).
‘The 100 Best Companies to Work For’ list is compiled for FORTUNE Magazine by the Great Place to Work Institute, upon which the Planetree Employee Satisfaction Survey is based. Griffin CEO Patrick Charmel said, “Our culture and the care we provide are the source of great employee pride. To be considered among the very best companies to work for in America is humbling. The Griffin family is honored to receive this important recognition.”
Like the Griffin Hospital CEO, Aasved also often refers to the staff, auxiliary, board members, and volunteers as the North Valley Hospital ‘family.’ Aasved’s leadership is very important to creating and sustaining the positive workplace that keeps North Valley Hospital the caring family and award winner in patient survey results.
Planetree CEO Frampton works with a growing alliance of hospitals and health centers around the country and in Europe that have implemented Planetree’s unique patient-centered model of care. North Valley Hospital is one in the increasing numbers of healthcare institutions who carry the mind-body-spirit vision of the growing alliance.
At North Valley Hospital, every employee participates in a mandatory two-day training experience, general orientation and a Planetree retreat. LuAnn Basirico, RN, the Planetree Coordinator and other members of staff already trained in the patient-centered care model, spend a day at an off site location experiencing some of the healing elements promoted by Planetree. A handler and therapy dog visit the site, a massage therapist gives each employee a hand or chair massage, soothing music is played, and employees from different departments get acquainted in a non-clinical setting. CEO, Craig Aasved is present for about an hour at each of these trainings, making sure he gets to know every employee on a one-to-one basis.
Surgical Technician, Jonni Pekus remembers her experience at the Planetree retreat, “It was amazing how comfortable we all got with each other….the whole experience was intimate.” Jonni also talked about a training exercise that is performed at the retreat entirely in silence. “The silence helped us ‘be in the moment’ and experience what it was like to be a patient,” Jonni said.
Jonni works alongside doctors anticipating their instrument needs during surgical procedures. She was trained as a Surgical Technician at Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC), and has worked at other area hospitals. When asked if the Planetree trainings really contributed to a better working environment Jonni was quick to add, “People are happy here.” Jonni works under the direction of Donna Holland, RN, CNOR, the North Valley Hospital Surgery Supervisor who also facilitates many of the Planetree retreats for hospital employees.
Customer (patient) satisfaction is affected every day by the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. program developed by the North Valley Hospital Planetree Customer Service Committee. The acrostic stands for: Respond with Respect; Encourage a Healing Environment; Share a Supportive Attitude; Pledge to Professionalism; Exercise Accountability; Celebrate Diversity; Transcend the Ordinary.
North Valley Hospital has been a Planetree affiliate for about 3 years. Although the small rural area Critical Access Hospital has always been a caring community, the Planetree model of patient centered care, and the belief that caring for each other is a part of that success, keeps North Valley Hospital in the company of the country’s best employers. But more importantly, North Valley Hospital is on track with their mission, to be the center of healing for the communities we serve.
The last 100 years of healthcare and a commitment to stewardship of healthcare resources is stated in the Vision and Value Statements of the North Valley Hospital Family, and that is sure to become even more apparent in the new Center of Healing planned to open for our communities, about one year from now.
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