• OhioHealth’s Culture DNA initiative encourages associates to Lead with Connection, Go the Extra Mile, Work as One and Shape the Future.
• The LIVE Experience uses interactive activities and real-world scenarios to help associates put the four behaviors into practice.
• The initiative empowers employees to create meaningful moments for patients and families through connection, teamwork and hospitality in healthcare.

Every patient interaction is an opportunity to make a difference. Through Culture DNA, OhioHealth is empowering associates to make the most of those moments.

The organization-wide initiative focuses on four behaviors that guide how associates interact with patients, families and one another: Lead with Connection, Go the Extra Mile, Work as One and Shape the Future.

“The differentiator for us, for our patients is service,” said Tristan Hall, chief human resource officer at OhioHealth. “This is really about the experience that our patients have when they are in our facilities.”

Culture DNA encourages associates to look for ways to improve the patient experience, whether that means taking time to connect with someone, anticipating a need or working across departments to make a patient’s care journey more seamless.

“We’re trying to equip and empower every associate with the tools and skills and our culture,” said Ryan Newland, senior advisor of operations at OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital. “So that no matter where a patient goes, that they recognize that they were at OhioHealth.”

To help associates put the behaviors into practice, OhioHealth developed the Culture DNA LIVE Experience, an interactive, hands-on program traveling to all 16 of the organization’s care sites. Through activities and real-world scenarios, associates can explore the behaviors with colleagues and consider how to apply them in their daily work.

“We want to take this on the road so that our people get a hands-on experience and get to see exactly what it’s like, get to see the DNA in action,” Hall said.

The experience is rooted in Mission Mountain, OhioHealth’s strategic plan, which includes a focus on elevating the patient experience.

“It improves the patient experience because it gives every associate real-life tools to be able to use in every interaction,” said Newland. “It really empowers and engages our teams to look for those opportunities to be a moment maker.”

The program also reinforces that each and every associate can play a role in shaping the patient experience.

“Is there something that I can personally do to make their stay with us better, to make it more comfortable?” Hall said of the mindset behind Culture DNA. “It’s hospitality in healthcare.”

Newland said he hopes the behaviors become part of OhioHealth’s reputation throughout the communities it serves, with patients sharing their experiences with friends and family.

The LIVE Experience has introduced associates to the first two behaviors, Lead with Connection and Go the Extra Mile. OhioHealth plans to return to all 16 hospitals in the spring to focus on the remaining behaviors.

“This is who we are as a company,” Hall said. “It’s this idea that when I went to OhioHealth, they heard me, I felt valued, I felt listened to.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - OhioHealth announced today it has been named one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the tenth consecutive year by FORTUNE Magazine. This list, now in its 19^th year, recognizes companies that have exceptional workplace cultures.

OhioHealth is one of just two healthcare systems headquartered in Ohio to make the list. Two other non-healthcare related companies in Ohio also made the cut. Nationally, 10 health systems or hospitals were recognized.

“What gets me excited and what really makes me proud,” said Johnni Beckel, senior vice president and Chief Human Resources Officer for OhioHealth, “is that unlike other awards, being selected as a Best Company to Work For relies mostly on what our own associates say about us. It accounts for two-thirds of our overall results and we are very proud of that.”

Great Place to Work®, creators of the methodology behind the list, have found that employees believe they work for great organizations when they consistently trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do and enjoy the people they work with.

Applicant companies opt to participate in the selection process by submitting a lengthy application including an employee survey and in-depth questionnaire about their programs and company practices.

Great Place to Work® then evaluates each application using its unique methodology based on five dimensions:

• credibility
• respect
• fairness
• pride and
• camaraderie

“Being a Best Company to Work For is really about how you help shape your culture every day,” said Dave Blom, president and CEO of OhioHealth. “People want to work for companies that have a strong positive culture, where associates have pride in the work they do, and where there’s a great deal of trust throughout the entire organization. These are the things that make for a strong and vibrant culture that is good for our patients, associates, physicians and for the communities we serve.”

The FORTUNE Great Place to Work Institute Trust Index© survey that several hundred randomly chosen OhioHealth associates took part in anonymously last summer, evaluates the strength and health of OhioHealth’s culture compared to other FORTUNE Best Companies.

Methodology – Trust Index + Culture Audit

To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, FORTUNE partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. More than 250,000 employees at those companies were surveyed by the institute, a global research and consulting firm operating in 45 countries around the world.

Culture and attitude

Two-thirds of a company's score is based on the results of the institute's Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about management's credibility, job satisfaction, and camaraderie.

Pay and benefits

The other third is based on responses to the institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communication, training, recognition programs, and diversity efforts. Any company that is at least five years old and has more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible.

 “The 100 best workplaces are at the vanguard of an emerging movement,” said Michael Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work®. “It’s a movement of great workplaces for all—for people of all backgrounds, geographies and job titles. The 100 best and those that join them are enjoying better business outcomes even as they build a better society.”

To see the complete 2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list, click here.

About OhioHealth

OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable, healthcare organization with Methodist roots. Based in Columbus, Ohio, OhioHealth is currently recognized as one of the top five large health systems in America by Truven Health Analytics and has been for five years in a row. It is also recognized by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” and has been for 10 years in a row, 2007-2016.

Serving its communities since 1891, it is a family of 28,000 associates, physicians and volunteers, and a network of 11 hospitals, 50+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home-health, medical equipment and other health services spanning a 40-county area.

OhioHealth hospitals include OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital, OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, OhioHealth Shelby Hospital and OhioHealth Rehabilitation Hospital. For more information, please visit our website at www.ohiohealth.com.

About Great Place to Work® 

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. Through proprietary assessment tools, advisory services, and certification programs, including Best Workplaces lists and workplace reviews, Great Place to Work® provides the benchmarks, framework, and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. In the United States, Great Place to Work® produces the annual Fortune "100 Best Companies to Work For®" list and a series of Great Place to Work® Best Workplaces lists including lists for Millennials, Women, Diversity, Small and Medium Companies and over a half dozen different industry lists.