Cookeville Regional saw an 8.2 percent reduction in employee turnover last year, according to a report Thursday to the Board of Trustees.
Employee turnover rate stood at 22.4 percent. Human Resource Officer Angel Lewis said the improvement was the biggest win of the entire report. Lewis said boosted morale contributed to the improvement.
“We do town hall meetings with our CEO, which is really important,” Lewis said. “We do that about every quarter, and employees really like that. We have also changed some benefits that we have had here at the hospital that employees have actually asked for in the past, and also we’ve invested in their salaries over the last couple of years.”
The report showed Cookeville Regional had 746 new hires last year, with 140 of those being rehires. Lewis said retaining employees allows CRMC to provide better care for patients in the Upper Cumberland.
“That’s why we are here is to take care of the patients,” Lewis said. “If we don’t have the staff, we do not have enough people to take care of the ones that are sick, and we don’t have to transfer patients and things like that. So it’s very important to try to keep those people here.”
Board Chairman Danny Rader said the average full-time employee at CRMC makes an estimated $67,000 plus benefits.
“These are really good jobs in this community,” Rader said. “CRMC is a really important employer in this community, and I always believe that we do our best to keep that in mind.”
Lewis said the CRMC will continue to improve its employee turnover rate by continuing to listen to employees and trying to do as much as they can to let their employees know that they are appreciated.
In other business, the board discussed CEO evaluations. Board Member Luke Hill said each board member will receive a questionnaire to fill out as part of the process.
CRMC’s Finance Committee approved the purchase of 10 new ICU beds for an estimated $431,000.
