Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ardent Health Services is a leading provider of healthcare in communities across the country through its 30 hospitals and more than 200 sites of care, but the company’s leaders don’t consider Ardent a traditional health system.
They’re aiming to transform the traditional acute care hospital model by leveraging innovative technology and processes to improve patient care and support caregivers at a time when the industry is facing disruption and lingering challenges from the pandemic. Ardent Chief Human Resources Officer Carolyn Schneider shares more about the organization, its mission and culture, and the insights she has gained throughout her career.
The Journey into Healthcare
Schneider’s professional background is unique, having started her career in a multi-disciplinary search firm, before finding her calling in healthcare. That journey began with an ad in the Wall Street Journal that led her to HealthTrust, which operated more than 100 hospitals. From there, she quickly became immersed in healthcare and never looked back.
“My heart has always been in healthcare,” Schneider says.
Today, she leads Ardent’s strategy to attract, develop and retain top talent while building a culture of belonging and purpose. She was attracted to the company’s commitment to innovation while remaining true to its mission of caring for people.
Schneider recalls her first meeting with Ardent President and CEO Marty Bonick, who shared his vision for leveraging technology and partnerships to transform healthcare delivery.
“It was quickly evident he believes in trying new things and finding creative solutions to challenges born from the slow-to-adapt healthcare industry,” she recalls. “I knew it was a fit for me to help transform this organization.”
Vision for Ardent’s Future
With technology making it easier than ever for team members to be lured away from employers, Schneider is focused on creating an environment at Ardent that inspires team members to stay. Though cutting-edge recruitment outreach tools are available, she believes the company can’t lose sight of the human element – ensuring that people feel valued in their roles and recognized for their contributions.
“Our culture is built around our purpose,” she shares. “We start every meeting with a story about why we’re here – caring for the communities we serve and supporting our team members. It shows up in our engagement surveys – 85% of team members feel connected to our purpose of caring for others.”
Schneider also shares her enthusiasm for the adoption of new tools such as Ardent’s AI-powered virtual nursing platform and remote patient monitoring technology that are helping to improve both patient and caregiver experience. These tools not only reduce the administrative burden on caregivers, but also provide additional points of connection for patients and, ultimately, elevate the care provided.
“During the pandemic, many people could shift to a remote or hybrid work environment,” Schneider explains. “But until the onset of technology that allows for virtual nursing support or remote patient monitoring, that wasn’t possible for caregivers. Now we can extend careers that may have been impacted by the physical constraints of the role by giving people a path to pursue non-traditional nursing roles.”
Enhancing Belonging and Well-Being
Ardent is actively working to create an environment that is safe – physically and emotionally – for team members. Plans are underway to enhance wellness programs to ensure team members have access to more resources, education and training to help them cope with the various types of stress, whether it be from long-term thematic stress or day-to-day stress from working as a caregiver.
“There’s a lot more stress in the workplace today than there used to be,” Schneider adds. “It’s why we think about wellness beyond our physical health – eating right, exercising and sleeping well. It’s really more about how to take care of people holistically and keep people safe within the walls of our facilities.”
Ardent is developing a toolkit that includes de-escalation techniques and other resources to support its team members’ well-being and safety. The company is also working to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health support. While Schneider acknowledges there is still work to be done, she says Ardent is determined to lead the way in addressing pressing issues within the healthcare industry.
Creating safety also means there must be an environment in which people feel they belong. Ardent’s enterprise and local diversity, equity and inclusion councils dive into their own data and team member feedback to determine how to best support building a culture of belonging.
“That’s the reason I’m here,” adds Schneider. “I have spent a career in healthcare where I was the lone female in a group of white men, and I would tell you that Ardent has the most diverse executive leadership team and board that I’ve ever worked with. And for me it all starts there.”
With a focus on transparency and clear communication, Schneider says the executive team models a culture of listening that filters through the company. Regular town halls, weekly communications from the CEO and quarterly engagement surveys are consistent touchpoints that provide team members with connection and opportunities to share feedback.
Investing in Nursing Education to Build a Strong Workforce
In addition to a focus on well-being, Ardent has taken a proactive approach to the nursing shortage by investing in education benefits. The company has partnered with nursing schools to provide hands-on clinical work experiences, tuition discounts and a seamless process from course enrollment to reimbursement to support team members’ advancement. Additionally, Ardent is expanding its nurse extern programs to provide students with opportunities to engage with the organization while they are still in school.
“Historically, we weren’t focused on development as much as we could have been, so we have conducted talent reviews across the company to understand current skill-sets and opportunities,” shares Schneider. “We’re creating leadership development programs to support our caregivers today for their future growth. We want to invest in our people from the time they decide to go into healthcare to the time they retire.”
Team members beginning their healthcare career as a patient care technician, for example, can take advantage of Ardent’s education benefits to become a licensed practical nurse then a registered nurse. Additionally, all team members have access to a learning management system that allows them to create a path to personalized learning at their own pace.
Prioritizing patient care and team member well-being through investments in technology and nursing education are critical initiatives for Ardent. According to Schneider, these investments are helping to shape a culture where team members feel valued and supported, resulting in a more engaged workforce and better patient outcomes. For example, 83% of eligible Ardent hospitals recently received a Leapfrog Patient Safety Grade of “A” or “B,” outperforming the national average of 55% of all U.S. hospitals.
“There’s so much potential ahead,” says Schneider. “I’m excited about where we’re going.”
