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Bon Secours St. Francis Health System

Winning year: 2007, 2006
Industry: Hospitals/Healthcare
Location: Greenville, SC
URL: www.stfrancishealth.org

Highlights of 2007 Winning Strategies

The LifeWise membership program provides adults age 55+ with the opportunity to impact the community, contribute to improving their health, and enrich their quality of life. The membership offers a wide range of activities, education sessions, and programs that promote physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellness.

Additional Policies and Practices:

• Recruiting: Volunteer opportunities, which are advertised through a variety of channels, including the AARP website and Goodwill Industries, occasionally turn into full- or part-time employment.
• Workplace Culture/Continued Opportunities: To its full- and part-time employees (working 16+ hours per week), Bon Secours offers these learning and development programs: tuition reimbursement, in-house classroom training, on-line training, and certification classes. In the past 12 months, 100% of Bon Secours employees participated in at least one of the training opportunities with an average of 11 hours spent in training. In 2006, the organization spent over $121,800 in tuition assistance for 118 employees. At the request of employees, Bon Secours added optional vision insurance to their health coverage. The company's defined Clinical Career Ladder allows seasoned RNs to serve as mentors and be responsible for training new nurses. To alleviate older employees from back strain/injury, Bon Secours formed the Patient Lift Team, a team of employees who are trained in proper lifting techniques and complete specific stretching exercises before lifting.
• Benefits/Health: Full- and part-time employees (working 16+ hrs/week) receive individual and family medical coverage, individual and family prescription drug coverage, individual and family vision and dental insurance, and short- and long-term disability. Bon Secours offers an FSA plan to assist employees with out-of-pocket health care costs, and employees receive a 20% discount on any Bon Secours medical services.
• Benefits/Financial: Bon Secours offers a 401(a) and a 403(b) retirement savings plan, and a money-purchased defined contribution plan to its full- and part-time employees. After one year of service, the organization provides a match to the retirement savings plans. Employees may invest in lifecycle funds, and employees 50+ can make catch-up contributions. Employees receive financial planning information from the firm that administers their retirement savings plans. A retirement plan administrator provides ongoing education and counseling with group sessions, and a website that offers various modeling and investment tools. Bon Secours offers short-term time off without pay and long-term leaves of absence without pay to allow for caregiving. The following wellness programs are offered to full- and part-time employees: flu shots, health screenings, health risk appraisals, smoking cessation programs, health club discounts, physical activity/exercise programs, weight loss programs, stress management training, support group meetings, and health and wellness educational sessions. In addition, household family members are offered flu shots. The Bon Secours campus recently became tobacco-free. Thirty-five percent of Bon Secours employees have utilized at least one of these wellness benefits in the past 12 months. Employees are offered referral services to assist with childcare and eldercare. In addition, employees are given a 20% discount for some of the local childcare facilities.
• Benefits/Alternative Work Arrangements: Bon Secours offers these alternative work arrangements to its full- and part-time employees: flex-time, compressed work schedules, job sharing, telecommuting, and a formal phased retirement program. In the phased retirement program, employees communicate to their managers their intention to retire, and the managers then work out a mutually appealing work schedule. Another flexible work option offered is PRN (work as needed). Full-time employees are eligible to move to part-time work on a permanent and temporary basis.
• Opportunities for Retirees: Bon Secours currently has 55 retirees and has an individual directly responsible for retiree relations. The organization stays connected with its retirees by communicating regularly, inviting retirees to organization events/celebrations, providing ongoing access to retirement planning workshops/information, and formally acknowledging them when they retire. Retirees are offered temporary work assignments, consulting/contract work, telecommuting, and full- and part-time work.
• Age of Workforce: Twenty-seven percent of Bon Secours employees are 50+. The average tenure of employees age 50+ is 10.4 years.

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Winning Strategies 2006

Almost half of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System employees have participated in their optional two-day ‘Increasing Human Effectiveness’ program which teaches employees about managing and balancing both the personal and professional aspect of their life. The health system’s membership program ‘LifeWise’, designed specifically for those ages 55+, provides an easily accessible comprehensive network of benefits and services relevant to the senior population.

Other Benefits:

• Recruiting: The health system purchases mailing lists from associations and other sources to conduct mass mailings to target specialized positions, often including individuals in their late forties and above.
• Workplace Culture/Continued Opportunities: The health system offers the following learning and development programs to its full and part-time employees (working at least16 hours per week): tuition reimbursement (6% used past 12 months), in-house classroom training (100% used past 12 months), on-line training (26% used past 12 months), and certification classes (37% used past 12 months). The health system reports that it is committed to teaching ‘Generational Diversity’, especially among its leadership and performance management training staff. Long-service anniversaries are celebrated with announcements, parties, awards, and gifts. Within the last three years, due to employee requests, the health system added a Routine Adult Wellness Allowance benefit which pays up to an additional $300 of expenses for routine adult care and an optional Vision Plan for all employees.
• Benefits/Health: Full and part-time employees (working at least 16 hrs/week) receive individual and family medical coverage, individual and family prescription drug coverage, individual and family vision insurance, individual and family dental insurance, as well as short and long-term disability. 33% of employees are enrolled in the individual medical and prescription drug plan while 36% are enrolled in the employee and family medical and prescription drug plan. 26% of employees are enrolled in the individual vision plan, 29% in the employee and family vision plan, 29% in the individual dental plan, 39% in the employee and family dental plan, and 67% in the short and long-term disability plans. The health system offers a health flexible spending account and employees who select either of the top two tier medical plans do not have any out-of–pocket facility costs if they use a Bon Secours facility, and a 20% discount is given for any other fees plus a 10% discount for prompt payment.
• Benefits/Financial: The health system offers a 403(b) and a 401(a) money-purchase defined contribution retirement savings plan to its full and part-time employees. After one year of service and to those ages 21+, the health system contributes 3% to the employee’s base earnings annually and will match 50% of the first 6% an employee contributes to the 403(b) plan. Employees age 50+ can make ‘catch-up’ contributions to their 401(k) account and also invest in lifecycle funds. The health system offers referral services to assist with child care and elder care. The following wellness programs are offered to full and part-time employees: flu shots, health screenings, health risk appraisals, smoking cessation programs, health club discounts, stress management programs, and weight loss programs. 30% of employees have utilized at least one of the above wellness benefits in the past 12 months.
• Benefits/Alternative Work Arrangements: The health system offers the following alternative work arrangements to its full and part-time employees: flex time (11% participation), compressed work schedules, job sharing, telecommuting (100% participation), and a formal phased retirement program. Full-time employees are eligible to move to part-time work on a permanent and temporary basis. The health system’s phased retirement program allows each employee the flexibility to create a work schedule that will mutually appease both the retiree and management.
• Opportunities for Retirees: The health system currently has 55 retirees. There is an individual who has a direct responsibility for retiree relations. The health system stays connected with its retirees by communicating on a regular basis with the retirees, inviting retirees to organization events or celebrations, providing retirees with ongoing access to retirement planning workshops/information, and formally acknowledging employees on the occasion of their retirement. Retirees are offered the following work arrangements: temporary work assignments, consulting/contract work, telecommuting, and part and full-time work. In addition, the Nursing and Pharmacy departments keep a list of retirees who are available for future work assignments.
• Age of Workforce: Twenty-seven percent of the health system’s employees are 50+. Eleven percent of the health system’s past twelve month new hires are 50+. The average tenure of employees age 50+ is 10.5 years.