MemorialCare Medical Centers Partners with Academic Institutions, Communities to Ease Healthcare Professional Personnel Crisis

Orange County Business Journal, May 14-May 20, 2007

Successful organizations have a highly engaged workforce of loyal, exceptional employees who enjoy their jobs and are eager to make a difference, according to Barry Arbuckle, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of MemorialCare Medical Centers in Orange and Los Angeles Counties.

"With serious staff shortages plaguing our nation's hospitals, creating such an environment is an enormous challenge, especially in California, the state facing the most severe shortages in nursing and other personnel," adds Dr. Arbuckle. "For example with the least number of nurses per population, California requires an additional 16,600 new nurses before 2020.

A known leader in clinical quality and safety, MemorialCare began tackling the staff shortage a century ago when its first hospital began educating nurses and other health personnel. More recently, MemorialCare Medical Centers stepped up efforts through unique partnerships with academic institutions, cities and community organizations.

The shortage of health professionals is not a lack of interest but inadequate educational capacity," explains Dr. Arbuckle. "Our pioneering partnerships are leading to more highly skilled health professionals and sizable reductions in personnel shortages at our medical centers."

Memorial Medical Centers - Saddleback Memorial, Laguna Hills and San Clemente; Orange Coast Memorial, Fountain Valley; Anaheim Memorial; Long Beach Memorial; and Miller Children's Hospital. Long Beach - lead the nation through partnerships that stem the shortage, offer professional advancement and advanced degrees and provide scholarships and financial support to those seeking healthcare careers.

California State University, Long Beach Partnership

A five-year, $15 million partnership among Long Beach Memorial, Miller Children's Hospital and California State University, Long Beach will add 540 RN/Bachelor's of Science nursing graduates over the five years. Additionally, MemorialCare is partnering to further advance nurses to bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing.

LB City College/LB Workforce Investment Board

MemorialCare continues to expand education and training programs with Long Beach City College and Long Beach Workforce Investment Board. These include an RN/Associate Degree in Nursing under three state grants; a program for careers in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), increasing numbers of radiology technicians; and a billing and coding program.

Students complete clerkship rotations at the Long Beach Memorial/Miller Children's Skills Laboratory and lnpatient Clerkship Sites throughout MemorialCare. This dramatic increase in nursing and other students enhances the learning experience and fully utilizes the extensive patient care experience of nursing and other staff who act as preceptors.

Saddleback, Golden West, OCC Partnerships

MemorialCare's collaboration with Saddleback College and Golden West College to increase the number of nursing students hopes to start this year. To enhance the education and training of Respiratory Therapists - another profession facing acute shortages - MemorialCare Medical Centers works with Orange Coast College to double the number of those trained annually.

Other educational partnerships prepare needed professionals

Other programs include education and training of Nuclear Medicine Technicians at California State University, Long Beach; Cytotechnicians at UCLA; Occupational and Physical Therapists at California State University, Dominguez Hills; Histology Technicians at Mt. San Antonio College; Information Technicians at Devry University; Surgical Technicians at Long Beach City College; and Laboratory Technologists at California State University, Dominguez Hills. MemorialCare's partnership with University of Southern California School of Policy Planning and Development educates and mentors professionals as part of USC's Executive Master's in Healthcare Administration.

"Great Place to Work" campaign

"At MemorialCare Medical Centers, we work diligently to achieve a high level of employee satisfaction and create a workplace culture of engagement," says Dr. Arbuckle. "Research studies demonstrate that organizations with satisfied and engaged employees are more likely to have increased organizational performance, higher levels of patient satisfaction and better retention rates. Through our comprehensive survey process, MemorialCare actively polls employees to determine their perceptions about the work environment and understand the issues needing to be addressed to improve the work environment. Our "Great Place to Work" campaign demonstrates our commitment to creating an environment that makes us an employer of choice to potential employees and cements relationship with current employees. Thanks to engagement of hundreds of employees at MemorialCare Medical Centers - increased employee satisfaction is testimony to effectiveness of these efforts."

Efforts have not gone unnoticed. MemorialCare senior management was named Top Leadership Team in the Nation by Health Leaders magazine; and Computerworld magazine named MemorialCare one of 100 Best Places to Work for Information Technology Professionals - the only health system in Orange and Los Angeles Counties to achieve this honor.