Kootenai Health scores kudos on workplace rankings

COEUR d’ALENE – Kootenai Health is Gallup-ing to the front of the pack of companies that create a culture of engagement.

For the third consecutive year, the regional medical center is one of 40 companies in the world to win the Gallup Great Workplace Award. Gallup, a global analytics and advice firm, says the honorees have engagement among 70% of their employees. The overall worldwide average for other organizations is about 15% of employees engaged.

Representatives from Kootenai, which is North Idaho’s largest employer with over 3,000 employees, received the award at the “Disrupting the Workplace” event on June 5 in Omaha, Nebraska.

A panel of workplace consultants and experts evaluated applicants to select the winners. The honorees prioritize belonging, learning and growth, recognition and superior management, according to Gallup.

“We are honored to be recognized for creating an environmental that encourages employees to do their best work every day,” said Dan Klocko, Kootenai’s executive vice president of human resources. “It all circles back to providing quality health care to our community. When employees are connected to and take pride in their work, it creates better outcomes for our patients.”

In addition to the nod from Gallup, Kootenai was named among the “150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare” by Becker’s Healthcare for the second time, the only Idaho-based hospital to be honored.

Becker’s highlights hospitals, health systems and health care companies that promote workforce diversity, employee engagement and professional growth. Many members of the list offer unique wellness and personal benefits to help employees strike a positive work/life balance. They also emphasize recognition programs to celebrate employees’ accomplishments.

“Research consistently shows engaged employees produce better outcomes across all industries,”  said Jon Ness, Kootenai Health CEO. “For us, these outcomes are transferred to our patients who benefit most from having engaged, compassionate health providers.”

The regional medical center consists of a 292-bed community-owned hospital, with over 200 Kootenai Clinic providers across 21 specialties, including a family physician residency program.