Each month we will be bringing you a newsletter piece from Emmanuel Hospice. Emmanuel Hospice has been recognized as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in West Michigan and in the nation. The article below was written by Emmanuel Hospice.
Even amid a pandemic, Emmanuel Hospice has been lauded on a regional and national basis not only for its growth, but how the nonprofit lifts up and honors those it employs and serves.
The secret to success?
“We try to be intentional in all our thoughts and actions,” says Matt Schipper, who oversees Human Resources at Emmanuel and is their director of Support Services. “Our guiding principles are very important to us. We assume good intentions of one another and we’re active listeners who remember that we are all each other’s customers.”
While other businesses and organizations may have found themselves limited in the ways they connected during 2020, Emmanuel served 50% more patients and families compared to the previous year and increased its employee ranks by 40%.
Those numbers played an integral part in Emmanuel being named one of West Michigan’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. This past summer, the nonprofit hospice provider was also named as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation, joining 146 other winning organizations from across the country out of 1,300 nominations.
Emmanuel Hospice will be featured in the Wall Street Journal for this honor in the Feb. 10 issue, and will also be in the roster of Elite Best and Brightest Companies to Work For across the Nation in the publication’s March 24 issue.
“It’s always humbling to be recognized for the work you perform, especially in light of these unprecedented times,” says Emmanuel’s Executive Director Sara Lowe. “We are so grateful to a community that supports us in our ongoing efforts to connect with our patients and their families.”
Emmanuel is purposeful in its pursuit of ways to honor its employees, adds Schipper, noting that: “Our staff is just very focused on actions that support each other, and the more we work together, the more we strive to lift one another up. This translates directly into how we care for our patients.”
According to Hospice News and other sources, Emmanuel’s recent growth is atypical for hospice and palliative care providers nationwide, with many others experiencing staffing shortages and turnover tied to COVID-19. At Emmanuel, however, Schipper points out that their team reacted quickly to adapt to changes and challenges.
Hiring new employees, for instance, posed obstacles because interviews needed to be performed remotely. But Emmanuel pivoted immediately to develop new protocols ensuring that they’d attract and hire top candidates. Included in their strategy was ensuring technology didn’t pose any barriers for diverse candidates.
Schipper also emphasizes that Emmanuel ties its success and growth to a culture shaped by embracing death as a meaningful transition through the care of mind, body and spirit.
Additionally, there are internal touchstones in place at Emmanuel that help to attract and retain quality employees.
“Being a caregiver is a tough job, both mentally and physically,” Schipper says. “COVID-19 placed an additional toll on our staff that we were very conscious about and wanted to go to the extra mile in providing additional support.”
This led to the creation of the Employee Relief Fund, where staff could access additional financial assistance. Emmanuel Hospice also recognized the additional burden outside of work by paying for free tutoring for the staff and their school age children.
These benefits are on top of the employee focused benefits Emmanuel Hospice offers such as one-on-one self-care coaching and a partnership with Pine Rest through an employee assistance program.
“We’re mission-driven,” Schipper says. “We consider it a blessing to take care of one another and every one of our patients. It makes us all proud to work here.”
About Emmanuel Hospice
Emmanuel Hospice is a faith-based nonprofit provider of compassionate, person-centered hospice care to patients and families in West Michigan. Serving the community since 2013, the organization is a collaborative effort of St. Ann’s, Clark, Porter Hills and Sunset designed to complete the continuum by providing end-of-life care to those inside – and outside – the walls of these organizations. For more information, visit www.emmanuelhospice.org
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