November 27, 2008
Health center recognized for excellence
by Brian Wilson
In popular culture the term “perfect storm” has become a catch phrase for when circumstances come together at the precise time and precise manner to result in the greatest amount of impact.
A perfect storm is brewing in the health care industry. An aging service population with increasing healthcare needs is butting up against a shrinking number of primary care physicians. It is not that the medical schools are churning out fewer numbers of doctors, that number has remained stable over the years. What has happened though is that many doctors are choosing more lucrative career paths into specialties and settling predominately in larger urban areas. The general practitioners and family medicine doctors of years past are being replaced with doctors who are seeking advanced specialized training in specific fields. Overall this has been a good thing for the advancement of healthcare in general as doctors continue to push in the ongoing battle for longer, healthier lives. However, it will be felt more and more especially in rural areas as doctors become the exception rather than the norm for front-line medical care.
In addition to doctors, healthcare worker shortages in such areas as pharmacists and therapists are being experienced throughout the state. The number of Wisconsin residents reached 5.6 million, a 5.7 percent increase over 2000 census figures. However, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, growth in the health care workforce is lagging behind the demand for health care being driven by both the growth in and aging of the population. By 2010, Wisconsin hospitals, along with all other employers, will be competing for a much smaller pool of people to fill their job vacancies.
According to the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s 2008 Health Care Workforce Report, Wisconsin hospitals’ vacancy rates for key positions are on the rise, with hospitals listing therapists and pharmacists among the most difficult positions to fill.
As with any storm, how you prepare for its arrival makes all the difference.
Memorial Health Center of Medford has seen the storm clouds on the horizon for several years and has worked hard as an organization to continue to recruit and more importantly retain quality health care professionals.
Those efforts were recognized recently with Memorial Health Center being recognized as one of the nation’s 100 best places to work in healthcare, by the healthcare industry news source Modern Healthcare,
Memorial Health Center received this distinction in honor of its employee-related strategies and innovations that promote workplace excellence. These strategies and innovations allow Memorial Health Center employees to perform at their optimum levels to provide patients and customers with the best possible care and services.
“It is an example that you don’t have to be the biggest to be the best,” said Gregg Olson, Memorial Health Center CEO, to members of the MHC staff during a ceremony held Tuesday morning to recognize the distinction.
“The Best places to Work Award from Modern Healthcare is truly yours. You demonstrate daily your passion to excellence and compassion for people. You deserve to be recognized nationally, because what you do translates to excellent healthcare for the people of the communities we serve,” Olson said.
To determine the best places to work in healthcare, Modern Healthcare partnered with Best Companies Group, a company that researches the best places to work in a variety of industries.
Best Companies Group asked 200 employees of Memorial Health Center to complete a detailed questionnaire that included human resource benchmarks, benefits, policies, and practices. Employees were then asked an in-depth set of questions analyzing such things as workplace culture and communications, the working environment, training and development opportunities, pay and benefits, quality of leadership and of relationships with supervisors, and overall employee satisfaction.
Memorial Health Center was 23rd on the list of best places to work nationwide and was the highest ranking of any Wisconsin medical facility. Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital in Prairie du Sac was ranked 58 and Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee was ranked 73rd in the listing.
It is no accident that Memorial Health Center is on the list of best places to work in the country, MHC’s management team and the board of directors have made the recruitment and retention of excellent staff an important goal for the organization. A quality staff of professionals from doctors through mid-level providers such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants through all levels of technicians and healthcare professionals is essential to meet the healthcare needs of the Taylor County community for today and into the future.
As a small medical facility serving a primarily rural population, Memorial Health Center is at a certain disadvantage when it comes to competing for the best and brightest in the medical profession.
When is comes to pay for positions, MHC needs to be at the same level as facilities across the country, but as Olson explains, often the paycheck is not the primary reason for people choosing one location over another.
Olson cites a study done by Merritt, Hawkins and Associates of Dallas which shows that only 4 percent of new physicians said they wanted to hang a shingle in a town with a population of 25,000 or less. Of new physicians, 57 percent named “geographic location/lifestyle” as the biggest factor for determining where they would settle.
For Olson, many times the decision to come or not to come to Medford rests with the spouse and family of the prospective hire. “We look at the family as a whole,” he said of the the interview process.
It is not just a matter of if the individual will fit into the organization, but if the the family will fit in the community. While in decades past, the spouses of doctors and other professionals did not work outside the home, it is more normal in today’s job environment for the spouses of medical professionals to be career-oriented professionals in their own right. He said many spouses and families are asking what there is for them to do in the community.
“We had one person turn us down because they asked where our 4-star restaurants were,” he said. Other attractions such as access to theater and the arts are also factors for many prospective applicants. Faced with what the community doesn’t have, Olson said they instead focus on what the community does have. The desire for medical professionals to live in more urban areas is not unique to northern Wisconsin, Olson noted when he was in administration at a healthcare center near Rockford, he had prospective employees take less money to live closer to Chicago than Rockford with a population of 150,000 people.
As with any industry, Olson is pleased when they can tap into locally grown talent pools to fill positions, noting people who grew up here already know what a great place it is especially when compared to other areas. He praised the local schools for preparing students and encouraging them to pursue medical-oriented careers.
Through its ongoing recruiting efforts, Memorial Health Center is ahead of the curve in making sure high quality medical facilities and staff are available to the people of Taylor County and the region. Which is good news for the people who live and work here.
