Pros
* I worked at one of Banner Health's critical access hospitals and the hospital's executive management was very supportive of staff and took a particular interest in mentoring the leadership team on how to manage employees better, be proactive, and build teams that work cohesively. * The culture was very positive and employees were valued and acknowledged frequently for their good work. * There was a true spirit of teamwork among hospital employees; everyone worked together and handled crises together. The saying, "That's not in my job description," was just not part of the culture there. * The hospital worked hard to partner with the community and give back. * As a non-profit, the hospital truly did put patients first, and I saw firsthand on many occasions that leadership valued the patients' well-being over the dollar. * Physicians and clinical staff were continually working on improving themselves, not only in terms of learning skills and new technology, but also regarding communication with patients. In fact, patients were asked to share their experiences, and that information is used monthly to measure performance and set goals for improvement.
Cons
* Bureaucracy! It was a fairly typical corporate environment in which the Phoenix headquarters and then the regional headquarters control everything from spending to posting open positions, etc. Everything must be justified to Corporate and approval must be given before the hospitals can spend money, hire, etc. This process is quite slow at Banner and causes delays which sometimes negatively impact the hospital itself. For instance, if someone resigns, it can take weeks to get approval to post that position, even though the position itself is already in the budget for the year. In the meantime, employees are left shouldering the additional workload while the process drags on. * Corporate leadership was not frequently on the same page as the hospital leadership; it was challenging for the hospital leaders to to address issues/concerns which were not of a high priority on the corporate level. Although Banner Health has clearly delineated core values, those values were not always expressed between the micro and macro levels. * Many employees who are exempt were willing to put in additional hours to get the job done, however I saw this taken to the extreme in several cases. Rather than letting those employees burn out, please re-evaluate their workload and invest in part-time help, etc. as needed.
