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Managing Human Resources during a Pandemic

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In this episode of This Week in Health Tech, Vik and Jimmy are joined by Tony Welch, Senior VP and Chief Human Resources Office for Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. Tony discusses the challenges that COVID-19 brings to Human Resources and how his hospital has adapted.

Here is what they discussed:

  • “We  had to tear up our HR manual and start from new.”
    • Tony describes the steps his hospital took to address the growing COVID-19 cases. He goes into detail about how they managed PPE equipment and how his team came up with solutions to help prevent PPE shortages.

 

  • “You really have to figure out what to do with staffing.”
    • When it came to the staff, Tony reiterates that they didn’t furlough or layoff a single employee. His HR team instead created a labor pool, where staff were re-assigned jobs based on what was needed. The morale of his team stayed positive, and other facilities followed what Phoebe Putney was doing.

 

  • “What about communication with staff and keeping them updated?”
    • Vik asks Tony how they were able to effectively communicate with staff and keep them updated. Phoebe Putney hospital set up a command center that was manned 17 hours daily. Tony explains that the executive board became very transparent with the staff and the community. Other forms of communication include newsletters and daily videos for staff.

 

  • “Did you look into any digital tools that could help the staff and the patient in regards to COVID?”
    • Vik asks Tony whether they have intensified their approach to telehealth systems and other digital apps. Tony shares that telehealth has been in the works for a couple years but COVID has definitely accelerated more implementation of telehealth.

 

  • “Diversity and Inclusion are things that we’ve put on the radar since day one.”
    • With the social unrest currently going on in our country, Jimmy asks Tony what they are doing to address these on-going problems. Tony reiterates that they are looking at every demographic when it comes to their staff, including generational differences.

 

Listen to the full episode:



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