FIRST PLACE
Small Business Category
RTA Hospice and Palliative Care

BY NANCY GILKEY, SUN STAFF WRITER

The first place recipient of the 2007 Workplace Excellence Award in the Small Business category is RTA Hospice and Palliative Care.

The company was nominated by three employees, including Pat Underkofler, chaplain and bereavement coordinator. "This is a great place to work because we come together united by our passion to help others," she wrote in her nomination application.

"Of course our patients come first (but) ... we share that same attitude of caring with each other that translates into a flexibility and cooperation that reduces stress and creates positive energy."
Fun in the workplace

Though a hospice deals with serious issues, fun in the workplace is important at RTA Hospice. Among other fun activities, the company has a "WAY-TO-GO" reward program for enthusiastic staff who go beyond regular job duties to help promote the company to the community. And rewards are given to staff who show company spirit by wearing company colors on Mondays.

Employee benefits

Employee benefits support RTA Hospice's goal of being the "hospice employer of choice" in its service area, wrote Executive Director Amberly Hodgin, RN, BSN, in her nomination application.

Health, dental and life insurance, a 401 (k) Plan and paid holidays are some of the benefits offered to employees. One of the company's more unique benefits is the wellness program, which covers 50 percent up to $50 per month for wellness-related services such as health club, weight watchers, and smoking cessation programs.

The company also offers a Badge Bucks program, which encourages staff to wear RTA logo name badges by rewarding them with Badge Bucks they can use to purchase more RTA logo apparel.

Learning, training and development

"We believe that well-trained employes have a greater understanding of their duties and responsibilities, which in turn promotes greater cooperation and communication among co-workers," Hodgin said. So the company encourages full-potential development by reimbursing employees 100 percent for successfully completing workshops or seminars that enhance job skills and provide advancement opportunities within the company.

Computer-based, in-house training are also offered.

And professional development programs, such as a Children and Grief workshop, are offered free of charge to the community.
Executive perspective

"We recognize that our employees are our most valuable resource," Hodgin said. "We provide the best training and compensation for our staff because we want to be the employer of choice in our community. In doing so, we believe our staff will deliver great patient care which in turn will make us the hospice of choice for our patients, their families and our community."

Nancy Gilkey can be reached at
ngilkey@yumasun.com or 539-6851.