As hospitals and health systems prioritize workforce well-being, they are moving siloed efforts into enterprisewide strategies.
Over the past two years at Kansas City, Mo.-based Children’s Mercy, this has involved unifying historically separate efforts under “CMWell,” an enterprise framework connecting TakeCARE/HR, which involves individual and family well-being; the Center for Wellbeing; and the Berry Institute, which focuses on career development and leadership.
“We aligned on one vision — a comprehensive culture of well‑being so all team members can flourish — and organized our work around three enterprise mechanisms: bi‑directional data, coordinated programs and consistent communication,” Chief People Officer Michelle Wimes told Becker’s. “This shift included a shared steering committee and a well-being advisory council to prioritize needs and remove duplication, with a monthly cadence between HR/TakeCARE and the Center for Wellbeing to keep execution tight.”
In practice, these efforts have clarified ownership, improved wayfinding to services and supported recognition milestones while simplifying access and increasing utilization, particularly for night-shift and distributed teams, Ms. Wimes said.
At Tucson, Ariz.-based TMC Health, efforts have included fostering strong collaboration among wellness, spiritual care, the behavioral health response team, security and human resources as the system shifts its focus toward workforce well-being. This approach has allowed the organization to increase the depth and breadth of support, CHRO Alex Horvath told Becker’s.
“When any one of these teams becomes aware of an individual or department incident, we refer to each other, so the employees receive the most appropriate kind of support,” Mr. Horvath said. “For example, following any workplace violence event, security notifies HR and wellness who then coordinate a personal reach out to any employee impacted. Following any difficult patient incident, spiritual care will contact wellness, and we will create a joint response.”
Aligning ownership across departments
Ownership is shared and visible, Ms. Wimes said. Clinical well-being is coordinated through the Center for Wellbeing, which offers crisis-response support and evidence-based stress mitigation, while HR/TakeCARE leads enterprise benefits and individual supports, such as the employee clinic and pharmacy and financial well-being.
“The Berry Institute bridges both by building leader capability, engagement and career pathways — so well‑being is reinforced in daily management, not just offered as a program,” Ms. Wimes said. “This triad meets through the CMWell steering committee and advisory council, using shared data to target ‘moments that matter’ and to co‑design solutions with frontline leaders.”
Most effective structures in sustaining well-being
Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Cottage Health has sustained well-being efforts by prioritizing investments that address the most significant pressures facing employees, such as mental health, housing, childcare and financial security, CHRO Cara Williams told Becker’s.
“By focusing on select high-impact programs, Cottage is able to deliver meaningful support employees can rely on,” Ms. Williams said. “This includes expanded on-site childcare, down payment and mortgage assistance, and comprehensive mental health resources that go well beyond traditional benefits. Together, these investments help ensure well-being remains a core priority even as the healthcare industry experiences financial and operational challenges.”
At TMC Health, the cross-department well-being collaboration has been effective in reaching more of the workforce, Mr. Horvath said. The system has also employed two registered nurse health coaches to provide peer support through the lens of firsthand bedside experience. Subjective data suggests this resource retains between four and eight RNs annually, he said.
