Providence Mission Hospital Mission Viejo (Calif.) is the latest hospital within Renton, Wash.-based Providence to launch an employee concierge program — an idea that has been on its radar since 2023.
"I wish I could say that it was our great idea. It really wasn't," said Carrie Miller, director of administrative operations at Mission Hospital. "Providence has 51 hospitals [in the U.S.], and one of our sister hospitals implemented this program [nearly] a couple of years ago."
The first to adopt the program was Providence St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, Calif., which launched its employee concierge services in April 2023. Since then, other Providence facilities — including Providence St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica (Calif.), Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana (Calif.), Providence Petaluma Valley Hospital (Calif.) and Providence Healdsburg Hospital (Calif.) — have followed suit. Mission Hospital launched its program in October.
Ms. Miller explained that the idea initially caught their attention before the COVID-19 pandemic. "COVID came up and distracted us, candidly, into other areas," she said. "We decided to circle back around at the beginning of this year — trying to find out more about the program. By that point, several hospitals within Providence had implemented the program and the feedback from caregivers was positive."
With the success of these programs, Mission Hospital and other Providence facilities now offer their caregiving staff concierge and errand-running services through Best Upon Request, a Cincinnati-based national services provider. The program assists with tasks such as running errands, scheduling appointments, coordinating car services, arranging travel plans, managing household tasks, shopping, shipping, and gift wrapping.
In providing this service, Ms. Miller drew a direct connection to say that Providence's promise statement — "Know me, care for me, ease my way" — extends beyond patients and their families to include employees.
"It's our outlook on how we view the people that we interact with every day," Ms. Miller said. "There is an opportunity to find out who they are and to do whatever we can to make them comfortable and ease their way, and that applies for us as the leaders to our caregivers. This program really, really demonstrates that commitment. It's one thing to have a lofty promise statement. It's another to put in place a variety of programs that demonstrate that commitment."
At Mission Hospital, a full-time concierge and a part-time concierge are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to respond to employee requests. Employees register for the program through an app using a QR code, which accommodates healthcare workers who may not have easy access to email. All of Mission Hospital's 2,700 full-time employees are eligible to participate.
Once registered, employees can use the app to request services as needed.
"They're using it to go get groceries, to do shopping returns, for automotive services like repairs or car washes," Ms. Miller said. "In fact, a couple of weeks ago, we found that we had a bunch of caregivers who were either home sick or they were home with a child who was ill. And so we saw a real increase in people using the service to go pick up prescriptions that had been called in by a physician or to pick up family meals and dinners because the caregivers couldn't leave their homes."
The program is funded through philanthropic donations to the hospital. Workers only pay for the specific service they request. For example, if a worker asks a concierge to return an item to Amazon, they don't pay for the mileage or the concierge's time — only the cost associated with the service itself.
"There are only a couple of things that we really can't do. We can't transport children or people," Ms. Miller said. Despite this limitation, she added, "People are amazed, frankly, that we would offer this program just to ease the way for our caregivers."
Dru Ann Copping, director of administrative operations at Providence St. Jude Medical Center, shared similar sentiments. She told Becker's the program has been successful with St. Jude staff since its launch nearly two years ago and is pleased that St. Jude has supported other Providence facilities in adopting the practice.
"The program allows us to keep talented caregivers and reduce the stress and distractions created by undone personal tasks," Ms. Copping said. "This concierge service offers a tangible example of our commitment to caregivers' well-being. It is a visible and practical way to highlight one of the most unique aspects of the St. Jude culture: the caring and support we offer one another."