TriHealth, Inc.: AARP Best Employers 2008

Winning Year: 2008

Industry: Hospitals/Health care

Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

URL: www.trihealth.com

2008 Rank: 16

 

 

The TriHealth Inc. Seniority Program helps members age 50+ maintain healthier, more active lives through special events, classes, educational programs, lectures, outings, and entertainment events and local, national, and international travel opportunities. In addition, retirees receive discounts on vision, pharmacy, dental, and transportation services, and retirees also receive free medical consultations and free audiology screenings. Approximately thirty-three percent of TriHealth employees are age 50+.

 

Additional Policies and Practices:

 

Recruiting: TriHealth uses placement agencies for older job-seekers, direct mail, internal career fairs, the internal transfer process, and community organizations, to target mature workers and retirees.

 

Workplace Culture/Continued Opportunities: TriHealth offers the following learning and development programs to its full- and part-time employees: tuition reimbursement, in-house classroom training, online training, and certification classes. The tuition reimbursement program is offered exclusively to employees working at least 16 hours per week.

 

In addition, TriHealth’s Bethesda Nurse Alumni Association provides nursing scholarships to nursing graduates, and the Good Samaritan Hospital Endowment Fund provides financial assistance to nurses. During the past 12 months, 96 percent of TriHealth employees participated in at least one of the training opportunities, with an average of 16 hours spent in training.

 

TriHealth celebrates long-service anniversaries with announcements, parties, awards, and gifts after five years of service.

 

The company has made the following improvements to benefits and policies based on employee feedback: implemented a formal alternative-work arrangement policy, including flexible scheduling, alternate work sites, job-sharing, and compressed work weeks.

 

In addition, TriHealth replaced 12-hour nursing shifts with four, six, eight, and 10-hour shifts, developed the Diversity Inclusive Workplace Policy/Management Training Course, and created an E-Learning Diversity Education Course. The company also implemented Navigator for Senior Services—an eldercare assessment, care-management, and referral program for older adults, families, and caregivers.

 

TriHealth also began offering the Premium Discount Program, which provides lower-income employees an up-to 75-percent discount on medical premiums. The company has implemented the Pharmacy Discount Program, reduced the long-term disability waiting period, and enhanced its tuition-reimbursement program.

 

The company instituted a real-estate benefit program (the Home Loan Program offers down payment and closing-cost assistance of up to $5,000) and added numerous health and wellness classes.

 

Employees at TriHealth have opportunities to gain experience by working on temporary assignments in other departments, on team projects, and via access to formal job-rotation programs.

 

TriHealth accommodated a nurse with vision problems by purchasing a special screen for the computer used in bedside charting.

 

Benefits/Health: Employees working at least 16 hours per week receive individual and family medical and prescription-drug coverage, individual and family vision and dental insurance, and long-term disability. TriHealth offers employees flexible-spending accounts and prescription discounts to assist in covering out-of-pocket health care costs.

 

Benefits/Financial: TriHealth offers a 403(b) plan and a defined-benefit plan to its full- and part-time employees. Employees may invest in lifecycle funds, and age-50+ employees can make catch-up contributions to their 403(b)s. Employees receive financial-planning information from staff members and from MetLife, the company that administers the 403(b). The Retirement Services division of MetLife has on-site Financial Counselors who provide one-on-one financial planning and retirement-planning workshops.

 

In addition, TriHealth offers Ask-An-Expert, a live, online discussion on personal finance with emphases on retirement planning, budgeting, and debt reduction.

 

TriHealth offers paid time off specifically designated for caregiving, and short-term time off and long-term time off without pay to allow for caregiving. Full- and part-time employees are eligible for the following wellness benefits: flu shots, health screenings, health-risk appraisals, smoking-cessation programs, health club discounts, physical activity and exercise programs, weight loss programs, stress-management training, on-site health coaches, and online health assistance via the Ask-A-Counselor program. Thirty-five percent of TriHealth employees have used at least one of its wellness benefits during the past 12 months.

 

TriHealth offers on-site child care, sick child care, and backup child care, and referral services to assist with care for children, grandchildren, and with eldercare, to its full- and part-time employees.

 

Benefits/Alternative Work Arrangements: TriHealth offers the following alternative work arrangements to its full- and part-time employees: flextime, compressed work schedules, job-sharing, telecommuting, and a formal phased-retirement program. Employees phasing into retirement may create their own flexible schedules by job-sharing, working compressed work weeks, shorter shifts, or on an as-needed basis. Full-time employees are eligible to move to part-time work on a permanent or temporary basis.

 

Opportunities for Retirees: TriHealth currently has 1,275 retirees and an employee directly responsible for retiree relations. The company stays connected with retirees by communicating on a regular basis, by inviting retirees to events and celebrations, by providing ongoing access to retirement planning workshops and information, and by formally acknowledging employees when they retire. It offers retirees work opportunities, such as temporary work assignments, consulting and contract work, telecommuting, volunteer work, and full- and part-time work.