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St. Tammany Parish Hospital employees show their “team spirit.” In addition to being avid football fans, employees boost camaraderie through a fundraiser pitting hospital units in a costume competition
and an obstacle course gurney race.
Photo by Frank Aymami
FIVE-TIME H O N O R E E
St. Tammany
Parish Hospital
Randy Martinez admits his department gets
pretty competitive in the St. Tammany
Parish Hospital Foundation’s Gurney Games, a
fundraiser pitting hospital units in a costume
competition and an obstacle course gurney race.
“We were actually the ‘Wizard of Oz.’ We
dressed up the gurney as Dorothy’s house that
was falling to the ground,” said Martinez, who
was the mayor of Munchkin Land in the annual
spring event featuring food, drinks, music
and prizes.
Martinez is a licensed physical therapist
assistant in the hospital’s rehab services unit,
this year’s Fan Favorite and winner of the best
overall Dynamic Decor Award.
“Every year we try to focus on costumes and
creating the best gurney event ever,” Martinez
said. “It really gives us something fun and creative
to think about and do outside of work.”
Having such fun with co-workers “makes it
more enjoyable to work here,” Martinez said.
For Kristin Roy, an inpatient charge nurse,
the fun comes in the form of a weekly kickball
game implemented this year, and in the genuine
care co-workers show for one another.
“When you go to work, everyone cares
about personal lives as well,” Roy said. “We’re
not just at work; we’re there for each other.”
Roy points to her job interview with the hospital
as the first moment she sensed the caring
atmosphere after she had searched for a job for
six months.
“I actually skipped through the human
resources department and called the manager
of the particular floor (Amy Wade),” Roy said,
recalling a non-intimidating interview with a
manager.
“We actually looked alike. She actually called
me right away” for the job, Roy said.
Roy said she appreciates the flexibility the
hospital allows in scheduling work, an employee
pharmacy that beats drugstore prices and
the extended illness bank, which gives
employees a percentage of their work hours for
sick time.
Cherie Faucheux, the clinical application
and implementation manager in information
systems, recalls when hospital CEO Patty
Nature of business: hospital
Where based: Covington
Employees: 1,287
Average starting salary: $55,016
Median salary: $57,200
Average employment time: six and a half years
Benefits: health care with 96 percent coverage, dental, vision
and prescription plans, pension with 6 percent paid by company,
continuing education program, relocation assistance,
telecommuting, flexible hours, employee recognition program,
fitness program, subsidized meals
Wait time for benefits: one month
Paid days off: 29.8 to 44.8
Web site: www.stph.org
Ellish visited her team and offered assistance.
“I recall one situation where we were in the
middle of a particularly stressful implementation
and Ms. Ellish herself stopped by my
office, not just to see how it was going but to
personally check on me and my staff, (to see)
how we were doing and if there was anything
we needed,” Faucheux said. “The respect she
showed for what we do was greatly appreciated
by our information systems team. She
always shows interest in the projects we’re
doing.”
Faucheux said the hospital celebrates
employees’ successes and shares the information
with the hospital’s entire staff.
“There is a feeling of continued growth and
opportunity here at STPH, always striving to find
out what they can do to make things better for
everyone, including the employee,” she said.•
— Diana Chandler
44 2009 Best Places to Work