OPINION: Sarasota Memorial's amazing employees deserve thanks
On May 10, during National Nurses Week and Hospital Week, several members of the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board had the honor of attending Sarasota Memorial’s service anniversary celebration.
Entering the banquet room, we were overjoyed to see the number of employees celebrating milestone work anniversaries. But as the evening unfolded, it was simply amazing to see how many had achieved 20, 30, 40, even 50 years of service!
With broken supply chains, rising inflation, critical labor shortages and a worrisome virus still disrupting our lives, the years of diligence and dedication on display that night was awe-inspiring.
It’s not often you see that kind of longevity and loyalty in today’s workplace, but it has been the norm at SMH. The caliber of people working for this 96-year-old public institution, their commitment to excellence and their deep connection with the community is what sets SMH apart. It is what has inspired us through decades of growth and change – and led us to becoming the 5-star health system that we are today.
During the event, SMH honored its first 50-year employee, Lenora “Nori” Yoder, a lab tech in the microbiology department, and more than 700 others who were celebrating 5- to 45-year milestones. Our board assistant, Karen Marshall, celebrated her 20th anniversary. And presiding over the event was yet another honoree: Sarasota Memorial Hospital CEO David Verinder, who received his 15-year pin this year.
SMH employees are our most valued asset. Recruiting and retaining a talented staff is one of the board’s highest priorities. That’s why employee retention is an important metric on our CEO report card, and why we value the long-term and deeply rooted commitment that David Verinder has made to this health system and community. He has shepherded his team through two of the most tumultuous years in SMH history, while also spearheading transformative change that will improve and expand care in this community.
This unwavering focus on people – our employees and our patients – has served SMH in good stead through generations, and it sustains us in these critical times. During the especially deadly Delta phase of the pandemic, when our team members were at their most physically and emotionally drained, they still took time to praise SMH in a Gallup survey that summer.
The sentiments they shared earned SMH an “Exceptional Workplace Award” from one of the most respected employee engagement firms in the world - an award shared by only 41 organizations across the world. In its 2022 survey results, Gallup commended SMH for its “resiliency, determination and commitment to making their people a priority during another unprecedented and challenging year.”
And while other organizations were forced to close their doors as health care workers exited the industry in record numbers, SMH held on to its longtime staff throughout the pandemic with nurse retention rates that outperform the national average – while also maintaining its coveted Magnet nursing status. Simultaneously, SMH hired more than 1,000 new employees to staff the new SMH-Venice hospital and its eight-story oncology and surgical tower, which is part of the expanding Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute.
Thanks to strategic planning, industry expertise, patient-first decision-making and a culture of excellence inspired by our organization’s longstanding public mission, SMH sets the benchmark for care in our community. Developed in partnership by the SMH leadership team and the hospital board, our 10-year strategic plan guides the investment of millions of dollars in new services and facilities each year.
Balancing mission and margin, this process has enabled SMH to maintain a healthy bottom line, so that we can build upon our successes with new initiatives that support our staff and attract extraordinary clinicians.
We look forward to future employee anniversary celebrations – and to hearing from employees like Nori who received a standing ovation from her co-workers after sharing what she enjoyed most about a career that began at SMH in 1971. “We are all," Nori said, "part of a team that makes a difference!”
The piece was authored by the nine members of the Sarasota County Public Hospital Board: Sharon Wetzler DePeters (chair), Britt Riner, Sarah Lodge, Gregory Carter, James Meister, Joseph J. DeVirgilio Jr., Darryl W. Henry, Tramm Hudson and Richard Rehmeyer.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Memorial Hospital's workers deserve our praise and gratitude
