As always, front-line staff stands ready to serve DOHC patients at locations throughout the Coachella Valley and the Greater Morongo Basin communities of the hi-desert. But when the shelter-at-home directive was issued in March 2020, the physical location of DOHC as a Great Place to Work changed for many. Their home offices became the “new normal” for many behind-the-scenes DOHC employees who don’t regularly interact with patients.
“With a once-in-a-century pandemic among us all, this is a year that our employees have risen to the occasion in incredible ways and we need to do our utmost to protect each and every one of them, even as they serve our patients,” says Dr. Marc Hoffing, Medical Director of Desert Oasis Healthcare (DOHC.) “We’re delighted to know that our front-line responders and every other employee who stands behind them in support feels their employer recognizes the excellent work they do every day.” DOHC received its highest rating yet in this third year as a Great Place to Work, as rated by a survey of employees. In just the last year, employee satisfaction increased from 89% in 2019 to 92% in 2020.
In this year of significant changes in the way that many of us live and work, DOHC doubled-down on assuring employee satisfaction. The COVID-19 Task Force and the Morale Committee assure a feeling of connection among all employees and management, whether on the front lines or working from home. They do this with daily email updates and communications that often include contests and raffles that reinforce a sense of togetherness, assisted by the employee intranet. For both patients and the general public, as well as DOHC employees, regular COVID-19 updates have been made on its website since March: https://www.mydohc.com/patient-resources/covid-19/
For many years, DOHC has been holding an Employee Appreciation Banquet to recognize their collective work and shine a light on those who went above-and-beyond for DOHC patients. Although employees couldn’t gather together physically in 2020, DOHC held its annual “Week of WOW” virtually in October – finishing with a day-long virtual Employee Appreciation event on Friday that included videos made by and about DOHC employees that recognized how none of them had been slowed in their commitment to service excellence, even with the pandemic.
“We have long said ‘Treat your employees like they make a difference … and they will,’” said Dr. Edith Jones-Poland, Medical Director of Clinical Quality and Workflow Management, who is also a Primary Care Physician. “Some years ago, we instituted a program called Language of Caring at DOHC that has inspired all of our employees to be more mindful every day of how we interact with each other and with the patients that we all serve. I think that’s a big part of why our employees feel such satisfaction in their jobs and why they continue to see us as a Great Place to Work.”
DOHC was doubly-recognized in 2020 for its company culture
DOHC achieved #27 on the nationwide Fortune Best Workplaces in Health Care & Biopharma 2020 list. Fortune Magazine enlisted the services of the namesake analytics firm that had already bestowed Great Place to Work® recognition on DOHC in 2018 and 2019. Best Workplaces rankings were determined by analyzing anonymous survey feedback from nearly 800,000 employees working in the Healthcare & Biopharma industry in the U.S.
“We congratulate Desert Oasis Healthcare on their Certification,” said Sarah Lewis-Kulin, Vice President of Best Workplace List Research at Great Place to Work. “Organizations that earn their employees’ trust create great workplace cultures that deliver outstanding business results.”