HJAR Jan/Feb 2021

HOSPITAL HEALTH FORCE 14 JAN / FEB 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   support to our leaders. We, too, are called to this ministry and respond in the way and manner needed. If anything, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how important it is to integrate your human resources team into every decision a company is making. We are, and need to continue to be, a vital partner in public health decisions, tracking potential community exposures that could impact our employees and making sure we have rested and well-resourced healthcare providers available to care for our current patient volume and any surge of patients in the future. I will say one of the shifts that I have seen from this pandemic is recognizing that every position in the healthcare setting mat- ters. While we know that within the health- care setting, we have seen a shift in the com- munity recognizing of that, as well. MOFFETT It has not shifted focus; we con- tinually follow the guidelines and regula- tions when performing HR duties. However, there is an urgency to process employees in a more timely manner. LOMBARD-SIMS Absolutely – when the pan- demic hit, HR focus shifted to hiring critical needs staff, while placing other positions on hold. This allowed us to retain much of our staff at a time when other hospitals were laying off and furloughing workers. We also had to rapidly create a plan for day care needs, as our critical care workers did not have the ability to both care for their children, who were now home schooling, and to work. We were able to partner suc- cessfully with the Little Rock School District to make this a reality. Policies were also created. For example, UAMS created work-from-home policies and guidelines that were once thought to be temporary. We’ve learned, however, that our employees can work from home and remain productive. As such, this has cre- ated an opportunity for us to consider our staffing and recruit from a larger population pool for those positions that do not have to be on campus every day. Our Organizational Development group used their coaching skills to work with our chaplains in support of our employees. They took calls late into the evening for those employees who were struggling and needed someone to talk to in order to get through these difficult times. Our training and orientations were all moved to an online format. Thanks to won- derful partnerships with our IT and Com- munications teams, we had a seamless tran- sition as we continued to onboard our new hires. Several in HR volunteered to help screen and take temperatures at the screening sta- tions so that our employees, patients and visitors could be allowed into the building, or as needed, turned away due to symptoms noted in our questionnaire. CARRAWAY It certainly has, and in many ways. We focus more attention on employee retention. Fortunately, a position dedicated to nurse recruiting and patient satisfac- tion was added to our team a few months prior to the onset of COVID-19. This per- son and our HR employment specialists improved existing retention efforts as well as developed new ways to ensure employ- ees feel welcomed and valued. HR, as well as the organization, pivoted to embrace