Palmetto Health Baptist Easley - Easley, South Carolina
Partner of Choice Award Winner
How can a hospital succeed in serving patients if its employees and physicians aren’t happy with their jobs? It’s a simple question, and yet many health care providers fail to ask it. Five years ago, Palmetto Health Baptist Easley did. Its response has been a top-to-bottom commitment to addressing the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of everyone who works at the hospital, which in turn has paid off in better care for patients.
The commitment starts with new employee orientation, where hospital chief executive officer Roddey Gettys instills the idea of the importance of customer service and teamwork. He meets again with them ninety days later to review their experiences. Twice a year Gettys speaks before all employees on what the hospital is trying to achieve. And once a year, each employee is invited to one of multiple sessions to share the “3 I’s”—information, inspiration, and ideas.
Employees Help Run the Show
One idea that bubbled up from employees was ending the use of external nurse staffing agencies, despite problems in recruiting new nurses to the area. In 2004, Baptist Easley was spending about $1.5 million annually
on agencies. “So we formed a nursing team of nursing/frontline staff. And that staff really became engaged and developed a comprehensive initiative to really make things better for a nurse working in a frontline position,” says Mary Ann Hunter, director of Nursing Services. “And it has worked; since 2006 we have not had an agency nurse here and we have actually had to turn away qualified people simply because we did not have any openings.”
Employee feedback to leadership was crucial in solving a major issue of safety and quality. “From every nursing group, we heard that the pharmacy was inconveniently closed at night, and getting morning doses in a timely fashion was difficult because we’re a small hospital and we didn’t have a 24/7 pharmacy,” says Scott Parker, MD, the hospital’s medical director. Gettys responded and, despite budgetary pressures, the hospital now has a 24/7 pharmacy, which has improved patient care and nursing and physician satisfaction.
Building the Right Staff
There is a unique twist to the hiring process at Baptist Easley—the new employees are selected by current staff. A new peer interview process has managers screening job candidates, but the final interview and decision is made by peers. “What we’ve found with most of the interviewers, when they’re involved in the decision-making about the people who will be working side by side with them, sometimes they’ll pass on people,” Hunter says. “They have had to work a little bit harder because they wanted to make sure they had the right person working with them, not just
hiring somebody to fill a shift.”
The same peer interview process was brought into the physician arena in 2008.
The Docs are on Board
Winning physician buy-in with improvement efforts is another cornerstone of Baptist Easley’s award-winning program. The hospital’s Quality Coordinating Council is led by physicians. Every quality initiative goes through the committee and then through the medical executive committee, the CEO, and the board.
Gettys also spends time reaching out to physicians with offices miles away from the hospital campus, who might otherwise feel excluded from hospital decision-making. He drives out to these practices regularly, trips called “Roddey on the Road.” At each office, he asks physicians what issues they are confronting and shares updates on hospital news and business issues with them.
Rewards and Recognition
As part of its employee empowerment campaign, Baptist Easley created a number of formal recognition programs, including Employee of the Month; Volunteer of the Month; and a quarterly recognition program for physicians, which has been a huge success, says Dale Garrett, director of Quality. “It really gained credibility because the first award went to a physician who was in private practice, which showed how inclusive it is.”
The Golden Palmetto award program honors employees and volunteers who exhibit outstanding attitude. Every two weeks the Golden Palmetto trophy passes to the next recipient. “I think what makes it great is that you don’t have to be an employee to win it,” says Elizabeth Parsons, Human Resources Business Partner. “All aspects of our work force are celebrated, including our 142 volunteers.”
As with any high-quality improvement effort, Baptist Easley’s is ongoing. “Even though our employee satisfaction is at the 95th percentile, we are constantly asking for employees’ input, addressing any issues in a timely manner, and letting them know how important they are to our organization,” Parsons says.
on agencies. “So we formed a nursing team of nursing/frontline staff. And that staff really became engaged and developed a comprehensive initiative to really make things better for a nurse working in a frontline position,” says Mary Ann Hunter, director of Nursing Services. “And it has worked; since 2006 we have not had an agency nurse here and we have actually had to turn away qualified people simply because we did not have any openings.”
hiring somebody to fill a shift.”