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Photo by Frank Aymami
From left: West Jefferson Medical Center employees Courtney Groue, JoAnn Toval, Paul Griffin, Alaina Wertz, Karen Sherman and Maureen Morris play around with hula hoops outside the hospital’s fitness center.
S E V E N - T I M E H O N O R E E
West Jefferson
Medical Center
At a time when employee-sponsored medical
plans are getting harder to come by,
West Jefferson Medical Center employees
receive 100 percent health insurance coverage.
It’s one of the company’s prime benefits and
what registered nurse and clinician Cheryn
Young said is what sets her workplace apart
from other jobs in the New Orleans area.
“When they talk about their benefits and
health insurance, no one comes close. It’s the
best in the city,” she said. “If we go to West Jeff
physicians, we don’t have any out-of-pocket
expenses.”
Young has worked at West Jefferson for 11
years and said she’s watched the medical center
help a lot of people through crises, especially
after Hurricane Katrina.
“There are people who just walk in the clinic
— suicidal, nowhere to turn, no where to go
— and start a program here,” she said. “And in
maybe three to six months they’ve learned
coping mechanisms that help them get jobs,
help them get family therapy. I actually have
letters from people that say if it hadn’t been for
us, they might not have made it through the
devastation.”
Young said it’s her co-workers, as well as the
work she does, that make her work satisfying.
Maureen Morris, senior director of human
resources, agrees. She’s been in the work
force for 30 years but has worked at WJMC
for three.
“People here smile at you, make eye contact,
say hello,” Morris said. “I felt welcomed as
soon as I came here, and I still feel that way.”
Morris said she has never seen an organization
that is more into fundraising.
“Our employees have devoted a lot of their
personal time and resources for these causes,
and it’s fun too,” she said.
West Jeff has been involved with national
cancer prevention, heart association fundraisers,
community screenings and immunizations.
The hospital also has worked with
schools and colleges to educate students about
health-related careers.
Morris said the center also organizes events
to help their employees.
Nature of business: hospital
Where based: Marrero
Employees: 1,548
Average starting salary: $40,435
Median salary: $48,020
Average employment time: seven years
Benefits: health care with 76 percent coverage, dental, vision
and prescription plans, 401(k) with 2 percent match, continuing
education program, day-care options, relocation assistance,
telecommuting, flexible hours, job sharing, employee
recognition program, fitness program, subsidized meals
Wait time for benefits: none
Paid days off: 28 to 56, depending on years of service
Web site: www.wjmc.org
Several months back, West Jefferson
Medical Center created a challenge to
encourage employees to lose weight.
Employees put up $10, and whoever lost the
most weight during the six-week period won
the pool of money.
“Even though I didn’t win, I lost 10 pounds,”
Morris said. “We got really competitive.”
Laurie Baye, a licensed practical nurse, said
she likes working at the medical center
because it’s community-oriented.
“It’s the smallness of it,” Baye said. “You
have your big corporations, where with West
Jefferson, it’s not a maze.”
Baye said she has a history here as well, and
to her, it’s not just a place of work.
“I live here on the West Bank. It’s the hospital
I came to as a child, that my parents and
grandparents go to,” she said.•
— Katie Urbaszewski
December 14, 2009 51