Baptist Health is based in Louisville, Ky. The same can't be said for its workforce.
When COVID-19 sent employees to work from home, it catalyzed a new way of thinking for the health system — one where flexibility is key and old ways of thinking are subject to flush. Before the pandemic struck, about 2,800 support department workers — from finance and legal to HR and supply chain — came into the office five days a week, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Now, only about 75 workers stick to that schedule. Many have adopted a hybrid approach, and 2,251 work from home full time.
"I think [flexible work] is our new future," Angie Mannino, Baptist Health's chief people and culture officer, told Becker's.
The health system allows its employees to work from home anytime and anywhere, if their job allows it and Baptist can support their state's labor regulations. Some workers have taken advantage of this by going home to care for aging parents. Others work full time from beachfront vacation homes. And all of them have the freedom to adjust their schedules, making room for child care and special events that fall within the workday.
"We used to be a traditional 8 to 5 company, and you'd have meetings at 8 a.m.," Ms. Mannino said. "Now, we're encouraging people not to have meetings before 10 for people who have younger children that they need to get ready for school, or maybe they have classes at home that they need to help them log into."
"So you're allowed to say, 'Hey, I can't do anything before 9 or 10 or whatever works for you,'" Ms. Mannino continued. "In the past, that just wouldn't be reasonable because you've come into the office."
That's not to say all in-person collaboration is lost. Certain departments have decided to meet in-office on specific weekdays; leaders who hire entry-level and experience more turnover come in at a regular cadence to meet with new workers. The health system is relocating its headquarters to a slightly smaller space, which is better equipped for casual interactions. The new office has couches, multiple lunch rooms and big windows, while the old one was marked by cubicles and segmented offices.
Integrating new hires into the health system has been the greatest challenge of remote work, according to Ms. Mannino. Baptist has eight hospitals and more than 23,000 employees, so newcomers can feel lost in the shuffle. The system is employing customized orientations to help people settle in more intentionally.
But overall, flexible work has been a net positive for Baptist Health. People are more cognizant of precise, timely communication when a Zoom call is required, and the organization hasn't noted any hits to productivity.
"In healthcare, and Baptist especially, we are such a lean-staffed organization," Ms. Mannino said. "If somebody's not doing their piece, you know immediately because the work doesn't get done, or the patient doesn't get served, or this person doesn't get the report that they need."
Recruitment has also improved since the health system took some roles online. Specialized jobs — such as supply chain management — used to be hard to fill. Now that Baptist can recruit from anywhere, it's easier to tap the right employee, according to Ms. Mannino.
The health system has enjoyed flexible work so much that it's looking to untether clinicians from their shift times. In the future, Ms. Mannino hopes nurses can leave for a few hours if they want to attend their child's sports game, and easily get their shift covered by a float pool nurse. This gig mindset has been adopted by other health systems nationwide.
Unless new leadership comes in and radically shakes things up, Baptist Health has no plans to ditch the remote work model, according to Ms. Mannino — only to expand it.
"We have had so much positive feedback and people are able to balance their lives in a way that they've never been able to before," Ms. Mannino said. "I don't think we can take that balance away from them."