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Dear friends and neighbors,
UVA Health's amazing team has cared for and remained steadfastly committed to our community throughout the pandemic. Now, a national healthcare staffing shortage has become an urgent public health crisis of its own, equally impacting UVA Health and putting more stress on our incredible caregivers. That's why we're doing everything we possibly can to improve our staffing — to both support our dedicated team members who are here providing exceptional care and to serve the patients who have entrusted their care to UVA Health. Today, I would like to share with you the three areas where we're concentrating our focus.
Compensating our healthcare workers at or above national benchmarks:
You might have seen the recent news from UVA Medical Center, which garnered a supportive editorial from The Daily Progress about our compensation efforts. This year alone, the Medical Center is committing more than $30 million to improve compensation
— including merit increases for all and market pay adjustments for much of the team — and it plans to grow that investment over time. The UVA Physicians Group is planning a similar initiative. Our frontline team members give so much, and they are the heart and soul of UVA Health. This effort to pay competitive rates ensures you receive the very best care when you come to us. But, it's also simply the right thing to do.
Implementing best-in-class strategies to attract top talent from around the country:
In my experience, there isn't an individual healthcare provider in any field that isn't being sought after by at least a dozen different organizations at any given time. And so, we want to make sure that UVA Health stands apart and is truly exceptional in its ability to attract top talent to our team. That's why we recruited Charles Bodden as our inaugural
Senior Director for Talent Acquisition and Retention
. He is helping us look closely at all of our human resource processes — from interviewing and offering contracts to onboarding and orienting new team members — to ensure they're efficient and offer our candidates the best experience possible. These focused efforts will help us attract, hire, and engage the exceptional talent needed to deliver the excellent patient care you expect from us.
Promoting a positive workplace culture to make us a place people want to work:
One of the reasons we have so many patients at UVA Health is because of the extraordinary care our teams provide. We want to create a culture in our organization where our doctors, nurses and care teams feel gratified by and acknowledged for the exceptional work they do. Several initiatives are underway to accomplish that. Take the "Leading with H.E.A.R.T." initiative driven by and for our nurses, for example. This effort encourages more collaborative leadership on issues of importance to our nurses in their work at the bedside and beyond — from defining role expectations and scheduling policies to improving recruitment and onboarding.
I mention these three areas of focus to improve our staffing because, at the end of the day, they will result in better care for you, your family, and our community. That's what we're all about at UVA Health, and we take the responsibility that we play in the health and wellness of the Commonwealth very seriously. It's a big responsibility, but it's one that we take on knowing that there is strength in our efforts when we act collectively. Thank you to our incredible UVA Health team, and thank you for trusting us with your care.
Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy Thanksgiving,
K. Craig Kent, MD
Chief Executive Officer, UVA Health
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, University of Virginia |
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UVA Health
1215 Lee Street
Charlottesville, VA 22903
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