Release Details

United Regional in Top 10% of Hospitals Nationwide for Employee Engagement

Friday Dec. 12, 2008

URHCS scores high in employee engagement
By Jessica Langdon (Contact)
Friday, December 12, 2008 Times Record News
United Regional Health Care System shines as one of the top hospitals in the nation when it comes to how employees feel about their organization, according to a survey that measures employee engagement.
The 2008 Employee Engagement Survey, which was conducted by Morehead Associates, looked at how nearly 2,000 employees — including contract employees, who are part of United Regional’s family, President and CEO Phyllis Cowling said — view their organization, as well as their leaders, managers and fellow employees.
The employees’ responses to dozens of questions, which they also weighed in terms of how important the issues are to them, led to a ranking for United Regional in the 91st percentile — in the top 10 percent — of hospitals nationwide.
Of the total 1,950 employees, 1,844 responded, and that added up to a 95 percent response rate for the online survey, Cowling said.
During a meeting this week of the Wichita County-City of Wichita Falls Hospital Board, she noted Morehead Associates reports it sees about a 50 to 60 percent response rate at most hospitals.
The rate of participation shows the information is credible, Cowling explained to board members.
“A high participation rate not only gives great validity to the results but also shows that our employees know this information will be used to make continued improvements,” she said. A couple of open-ended questions asked employees what they feel works best and what they feel needs improvement.
Morehead Associates specializes in employee opinion research, with a goal of informing and stimulating performance. It compared the responses from United Regional to those of more than 600,000 hospital workers nationwide.
The survey compared responses to the answers United Regional employees gave in 2006, as well.
Comparative questions asked about a variety of topics, including commitment to quality, job performance accountability, job satisfaction, pay and benefits, hospital leadership and communication.
The hospital’s employees scored significantly higher than the 2008 national health care average on 51 questions, the hospital reported. That led to the ranking in the 91st percentile.
The responses also led to a ranking in the 96th percentile when it comes to what Cowling called “power items.” Those are questions that have the most impact related to an employee’s level of engagement.
Morehead defines engaged employees as those who are fully involved in their work and are enthusiastic and passionate about it, and who are connected to the organization.
“What this tells us is that our employees are very ‘engaged’ in the goals of our hospital and the quality initiatives we have in place to provide outstanding clinical care and customer service for our patients,” Cowling said. “This high level of enthusiasm and passion is reflected in our high patient satisfaction scores, which we are very proud of.”
The hospital saw a continued increase in organizational pride, Cowling said. Of the respondents, 89 percent answered they are proud to tell people they work there.
“Congratulations to you,” board chairman Howard Farrell said during the meeting last week. He congratulated the staff and those who are “on the front lines” around the clock at United Regional.