Most health systems have core values and standards of behavior, and most healthcare workers have sat through a class explaining them. When Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health set out to teach its own, it looked outside of healthcare for help and built something closer to a pep rally than an orientation session.
Novant Health built its training program from scratch in 2023 with help from an outside expert, Chris Bryant, who has since become the health system’s chief experience officer. His background includes training guest services teams at sports arenas, according to Jill Mabry, the system’s vice president of patient experience. The two-hour training session is deliberately unlike a traditional values class, with music, dancing, gamification and high-energy facilitators.
The program centers on a set of five behaviors the health system expects from every team member, summarized through the acronym “SPARK.” The effort is meant to spark employee engagement and enthusiasm while keeping the work rooted in why caregivers are there to begin with, Ms. Mabry said during an upcoming episode of the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast.
Here is how SPARK breaks down:
S — Support a safe environment. Ties the behaviors directly to Novant Health’s commitment to zero harm, safety and quality.
P — Personify a passion for service. Sets the expectation that service is something team members embody, not just deliver.
A — Anticipate and acknowledge. Focuses on service recovery and on heading off lapses in service before recovery is needed.
R — Remain consistent and reliable. Calls for steadiness for patients and colleagues alike, including during stressful stretches.
K — Kindle positive experiences and kindness. In 2026, Novant Health expanded this definition to underscore the role of kindness in care.
Ms. Mabry noted the training class is only the starting point. What sustains the behaviors, she said, is what happens afterward.
“For us, success is rooted in recognition. And I go back to an old saying, what’s rewarded is what’s repeated,” Ms. Mabry said, pointing to the system’s broad range of recognition to celebrate team members delivering on the remarkable patient experience.
We are intentional about how we recognize top performance in patient experience and individuals and teams who are shown gratitude from patients and families. One example is how the organization celebrates team members living our SPARK behaviors. Team members nominated by a colleague for living out SPARK can receive custom sneakers. At some facilities, honorees get a designated parking spot for a month, and carts with rewards roam the system’s hospitals to surprise team members caught exhibiting the positive behaviors.
When Ms. Mabry joined Novant Health, the system was nearing the end of a three-year patient experience goal. By focusing on recognizing and celebrating team members for doing what’s right, identifying what really matters to patients and a commitment to meeting everyone with compassion and connection, Novant Health met that goal and has carried the momentum forward, Ms. Mabry said.
The approach reflects a lesson Ms. Mabry learned early in her career: Hospitals can’t deliver outstanding patient experiences without also having a resilient workforce in which team members have a strong sense of belonging and the organization focuses on their well-being.
“I’m a firm believer you don’t get to fulfill that promise to your patients without investing in your promise to your team members first,” she said.
As Novant Health continues to expand its footprint across the Carolinas, there is a focus on ensuring every new facility and team member is brought into the SPARK way of delivering remarkable experiences. “It’s an opportunity to teach others our ways of kindness and compassion,” she said.
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