Amid the rising demand for healthcare services and workforce shortages, health system leaders know the value of retention. That’s why they are focused on providing an environment where top talent not only wants to work but also stay. As one chief human resources officer put it, “We believe retention is our best recruitment strategy.”
To boost retention and keep it moving in a positive direction — a recent Press Ganey report found the average turnover rate for healthcare employees fell from 20% in 2022-23 to 18% in 2023-24 — leaders are frequently evaluating benefits to ensure they align with employee preferences and today’s healthcare environment.
Becker’s asked leaders to share how they have adjusted their benefits with this goal in mind. They referenced strategies ranging from expanding free health coaching to a new low-deductible health plan.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Peter Adebi. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Cincinnati Children’s: Retention is a bright spot for us as our retention rate is just under 90% for our entire workforce, and better for nurses and physicians. I believe the actions we took in the past few years, three of which I highlight below, contributed to these results.
Three years ago, we modified our tuition reimbursement policy so that employees no longer had to pay out of pocket for the employer reimbursed portion of their tuition. We pay our tuition commitment directly to the academic institution. In addition, we significantly expanded the suite of certifications and non-degree programs that we pay for in full.
Last year, we expanded our well-being programs and increased the number of free health coaching from six to 10. Coaching includes a range of topics — parenting, work-life integration, personal development, health and wellness — that are of interest to our workforce.
Lastly, we have a young professionals employee resource group for professionals who are new in their careers and a career coaching support that are very popular. These two initiatives contribute greatly to our ability to retain new hires as the programs show them a path to achieving their career goals at Children’s.
Calvin U. Allen. Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: We believe retention is our best recruitment strategy. That’s why we are committed to creating an environment where people feel welcomed, understood and valued. We’re proud that our employee engagement scores exceed national norms and that CHOP was named one of America’s Best Large Employers in 2025 by Forbes, an achievement that reflects years of intentional investment in our people. Over the past several years, we’ve enhanced time-off benefits, introduced loan repayment programs, and prioritized employee health, including the appointment of our first-ever chief well-being officer.
We’ve also made substantial investments in talent development, internal mobility and succession planning to prepare high-potential employees for future roles and leadership opportunities. As the cost of traditional health, welfare and retirement benefits continues to rise, we review plan design and employee-employer cost sharing annually to ensure we remain competitive and sustainable. In addition, we’ve expanded our voluntary benefits to include offerings like pet insurance, identity theft protection, auto and home insurance, discount programs and more. We’ve also added Roth after-tax contribution options to our 403(b) retirement plan to give employees more flexibility in planning for their future.
Olesea Azevedo. Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Culture and Transformation Officer at AdventHealth (Altamonte Springs, Fla.): This year we updated our vacation policy to allow for more time off for our early tenure team members and enhanced our retirement contribution to support our team’s future financial health goals.
We also piloted a new health plan offering in Florida, focused on the team members and their families’ preventative care, with incentives to see primary care physicians within the first six months of the year, dedicated care ambassadors to navigate and support quick access, all within our comprehensive network of AdventHealth providers. Early indicators show strong plan member satisfaction, early prevention of conditions and overall lower cost.
Alen Brcic. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Methodist Health System (Dallas): At Methodist Health System, we are focused on whole-person care, empowering our employees to thrive at work and outside of work. Our benefits strategy is designed to ensure our team members take care of their own health through preventive care visits and by helping connect them with a primary care provider. We have found that through this thoughtful design, our employees are highly engaged with our robust wellness program, feel supported during life’s moments that matter, and are able to unplug and prioritize self-care.
We believe in a holistic approach that nurtures not only physical well-being, but also mental health and overall wellness. When our team members thrive, we know it leads to better outcomes for our patients, communities and our organization. This commitment extends to fostering a healthy work-life balance, with a robust time-away program and supportive leadership that allows employees to truly disconnect and recharge. The positive impact is clear: Our recent employee engagement survey revealed top-decile performance in enabling employees to “free their mind while away from work,” which is a testament to our success compared to roughly 1.5 million other healthcare workers.
Rosemary “Rose” Sheehan. Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare: We have launched our People Promise, which is anchored in four pillars: culture, career, well-being and total rewards. As part of this, we are rolling out a number of new programs. Under total rewards and well-being, we are rolling out a new low-deductible health plan, which aims to support our colleagues who have difficulty with affording their deductibles. As part of this work, we will be leveraging decision support tools to ensure that our colleagues can select the best health plan for them and their families. We have spent the summer doing a health plan literacy program. We hope this will better prepare our colleagues for open enrollment.
In addition, we are working to implement Lyra, which is in support of both our well-being and total rewards pillars. Our goal is to enhance behavioral health access for our colleagues. We care deeply for our people and we know that when our colleagues are better, we are better as a system.
