Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Labor
October 08, 2020 07:23 PM

Healthiest Award: Healthy culture is crucial for a healthy workplace

Michael Brady
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Midwest meeting of Marathon Health’s clinical peer-support team.

    Midwest meeting of Marathon Health’s clinical peer-support team.

    While specific benefits and special programs can help ensure a healthy workforce, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that having a healthy culture is crucial to helping organizations and their employees thrive, especially in tumultuous times.

    Vermont-based Marathon Health operates about 200 on-site health centers for large employers throughout the country. Its mission: help employers build healthy workplaces by giving workers the tools they need to manage their health. Marathon’s employees often say they joined the organization, in large part, because they were attracted to the company’s mission.

    “I’m employee number three. I’ve been with Marathon Health since we opened the doors. (A sense of mission and purpose) doesn’t get old. It doesn’t get stale,” said Tracy Moran, the company’s vice president of brand and communications. She said the company needs to lead by example if it wants to convince other employers to have a healthier workplace.

    Leaders that want to foster such an environment need to put their workers first, experts said. Marathon CEO Jerry Ford believes that if the company takes better care of its employees, they will deliver better care to patients. That will lead to more satisfied customers and, ultimately, the company’s success.

    “That philosophy has really held true. We’ve built … a very strong culture of health,” Moran said. “It guides … everything we do.”

    The COVID-19 pandemic changed what it means to be a healthy workplace. Not only did the outbreak lead to financial and operational issues for employers, but workers also had to adjust to new ways of doing their jobs and coping with challenges in their home lives. It’s led to rising levels of stress and anxiety for everyone.

    Leading healthcare organizations have taken it upon themselves to give staffers extra help, whether that’s educating them about existing benefits or creating programs to address new challenges.

    “We’re providing continued—and in many cases, enhanced—access to telehealth, physical fitness and financial wellness resources, as well as emotional wellness programs and support,” said Karen Ward, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Tennessee. “We also ramped up our at-home fitness offerings and collaborated with our employee assistance program to offer resources that address behavioral health issues such as burnout, substance use disorder, anxiety and depression.”

    Marathon created a special fund to help employees affected by the pandemic. Under the program, managers can apply for grants to help their employees fulfill unmet needs created by the outbreak, such as childcare or tutoring. It helps employees through “hard times,” Moran said.

    The company is also granting employees more time off on a case-by-case basis if needed, even if they’ve used up all the time off allotted them under the company’s usual policy.

    “We’ve been very flexible with people … to make sure they don’t have hardships … due to a PTO policy,” Moran said.

    Morrison Healthcare, a company that provides food and nutrition services to more than 750 hospitals and health systems, waived telehealth copays for its employees throughout the pandemic because “people didn’t want to go into the doctor’s office,” said Brad Burden, senior director of human resources.

    It also created pop-up stores for employees to buy household essentials like milk, eggs, paper towels and other necessities during the pandemic, as well as prepared foods.

    “It was very popular and very much appreciated by our associates,” Burden said.

    Morrison also taught its managers how to use technologies like web conferencing to connect with their employees to help ward off the sense of isolation many workers feel during the pandemic. That might include a virtual happy hour or activities like a trivia contest. It’s a time for employees to connect, not to talk about work.

    We all enjoy “participating in those, and I don’t see (them) going away. It’s kind of become a habit,” Burden said.

    The Tennessee Blues offers support for parents of school-age children by aligning with school systems that serve most of its employees and encouraging workplace etiquette like meeting-free hours among teams to give caretakers more flexibility.

    “Soon, we’ll be offering employees two new benefits: a backup childcare and elder care service and a tutoring service,” Ward said.

    Experts said employers must communicate with workers throughout the organization, regardless of their seniority, to ensure a healthy culture. It’s important to share what’s changing and why and be open to feedback, especially during an emergency.

    “We’ve emphasized how we’re working to balance the needs of our members with the health and safety of our employees,” Ward said. “We’ve also asked employees to tell us what they want and need to be successful in their various roles—not only as employees but as parents, caregivers, students and others they might be filling during this unusual time.” 

    Organizations need to have an unwavering commitment to their employees’ well-being if they want to have a healthy workforce because workplace culture is paramount, according to experts.

    “Many companies have culture statements (but) they don’t carry through in all the actions and behaviors of the organization,” Moran said.

    Best Places to Work in Healthcare - 2020

    More from Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    COVID-19 tests remote work capacity
    Family-Friendliest Award: Organizations seek to be the calm in the storm for employees during pandemic
    Millennials Award: Teamwork, transparency ring true for top millennial workplaces
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Copy of Copy of mh_20160125p7-Kaiser-Permanente copy_i.png
    1,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses start one-day strike
    MSHS-Morningside-Location-2col-770x420.jpg
    Mount Sinai postdocs push to unionize, citing financial hardships
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing