When Jennie Drangstveit was a kid, her mother was a patient at the hospital in Black River Falls in central Wisconsin. It could have been more difficult for her, but the people who worked at the small-town hospital went out of their way to help her family through the ordeal.
“I just loved the nurses,” Drangstveit said. “They would give me recipes to make at home. I really got attached to those ladies.” The place reflected the little town where most people knew each other, like a large extended family. Several decades later, the town has grown quite a bit. But Black River Falls Memorial Hospital still has that small-town caring atmosphere.
The 25-bed hospital is No. 2 among medium-size providers/insurers on Modern Healthcare's list of the Best Places to Work in Healthcare for 2016 and No. 4 overall. Drangstveit still feels that compassion—now every day as a longtime member of the hospital's staff. She was so touched by the caring staff when her mom was a patient, that when she turned 16 she got a job in the hospital's kitchen.