Changing Perspectives at Main Line Health

When you go to the doctor's office or the hospital, all you think about are the doctors or nurses or surgeries or beeping machines. Most people, or certainly I didn't until now, really stop to think about how the hospital operates as an organization, and the vital role each and every staff member plays. Working in human resources for a large network of hospitals has changed my perspective on health care dramatically. First, there is the CEO of the entire system, then there is the president of each hospital, and each hospital has it's own board of trustees, directors and VP's. Then beneath them come all of the managers of each department, doctors, nurses, technicians, specialists and so on. I was lucky enough to sit in on an operations meeting at one of our hospitals as one representative from each of these groups, (including me and my boss representing corporate HR) updated everyone on how things were going on their end. This really opened my eyes to a side of the hospital that I had never seen. Yes the doctors are important, but it was evident after this meeting that what's most important to Main Line Health as a whole is patient safety and comfort, and how well their employees are providing those things.

On my end, the way we provide patient safety and comfort is by hiring the best of the best in every sector of the hospital. Our job in recruitment is just as important as any of the doctors or nurses because we are the ones who find and hire them! I speak to people on the phone everyday ranging from those who have gotten their Masters in Nursing, all the way down to people who only have a high school diploma. Regardless of the job they are applying for or their level of education, I am required to ask them all the same two final questions at the end of my phone screen. 1: Tell me a bit about your customer service experience, and 2: How would your most recent supervisor describe you? These two questions really get to the root of who these candidates are as people, and as workers. The more people I speak to, the more I realize it's all about finding good, reliable people no matter what their background may be who will make our patients feel as safe, comfortable, and happy as possible.