Becker's Hospital Review

29 CHRO Why some systems still back remote work By Kristin Kuchno R ochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic ended remote- only job listings, effective May 1. The system said the change is intended to strengthen collaboration and advance innovation, and new hybrid job postings will require employees to live within 100 miles of their assigned Mayo Clinic site. Hospital and health system chief human resources officers have previously described remote roles as a way to offer greater flexibility and recruit employees in non-patient care roles. As health systems weigh the trade-offs between flexibility and in-person collaboration, are remote roles being scaled back? For two health system CHROs who spoke with Becker's, hybrid and remote roles remain an important part of their workforce model — with no signs of slowing down. At Morgantown, W.Va.-based WVU Medicine, flexible work arrangements have been a key lever to filling roles, Senior Vice President and CHRO Leeann Kaminsky told Becker's. The system supports a remote workforce where it is possible, and it also offers hybrid roles that require staff to be on site for a certain number of days a week or month. "However, we have found that having flexibility has opened our talent pool for roles that are harder to fill," Ms. Kaminsky said. "For example, all of our system HR employees work remotely and have done so since the onset of COVID. We have no plans to bring them back to an office because it's working." Fredericksburg, Va.-based Mary Washington Healthcare also provides remote and hybrid work models, though its mix has shifted, Senior Vice President and CHRO Joanne Huber-Sturans told Becker's. "We recognize that many healthcare positions are patient-facing without the ability to offer remote or hybrid capability, but we do have several positions that can be performed effectively outside of a traditional work setting," Ms. Huber-Sturans said. "During the last couple of years, we have seen more of a shift toward hybrid models as opposed to full remote." Both CHROs pointed to recruitment and retention as the central case for flexibility. "Taking a creative approach to workforce flexibility is pivotal to be able to effectively recruit, manage burnout and strengthen retention, which are always top of mind for our teams," Ms. Huber-Sturans said. "It also allows us to support work-life balance and employee well-being, both of which are priorities our team members value as much as, or in certain circumstances, even more than compensation." For WVU Medicine, that flexibility has also widened the talent pool. "We have gained talent from all over the U.S. and also have found that employees are grateful for the ability to work remotely and tend to be more productive," Ms. Kaminsky said. Ms. Huber-Sturans noted a similar benefit. "Alternative work arrangements can benefit our employees, team morale, culture and our ability to attract top talent beyond this immediate geographic region," she said. "We consider such arrangements when it makes sense for the employee, the organization and most importantly the patients and communities we serve." Dover, Del.-based Bayhealth has prioritized virtual work in recent years and now hires across more than 20 states for both hybrid and remote roles, CHRO Darlene Stone previously told Becker's. The system is also extending the model into patient care. "We're introducing the virtual nurse for our organization so that they can help provide support to the clinical caregiver at the bedside, whether it be a validation over electronic equipment of a second medication, an admission of a patient — just being able to answer call lights timely by having that nurse be able to pop in," Ms. Stone said. The broader data suggests healthcare is still an outlier on remote work — at least for high-paying jobs — even as other industries pull back. In healthcare, 12.7% of high- paying jobs are available as fully remote, according to a July report from career site Ladders, representing a nearly 30% increase quarter over quarter. The report also found the availability of six-figure remote and hybrid job opportunities is declining to pre-pandemic levels, with the exception of healthcare and technology. For many systems, the remote work strategy was rolled out amid the pandemic. That was the case for WVU Medicine, as well as Cleveland Clinic, which did so in June 2021, and Mayo Clinic, which adopted its strategy in 2020. Still, fully remote roles are likely a small slice of the overall hospital workforce. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare had 16,414 open roles on its website as of May 8, with 186 designated as "work from home." Chicago-based CommonSpirit had 5,206 open positions, with 128 labeled "remote." At Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, there were 2,749 total job openings, with 414 as "flexible" and 50 as "remote." For now, Mayo Clinic's shift stands apart from the approach described by the CHROs who spoke with Becker's. For systems continuing to prioritize flexibility, the case is straightforward: In a tight labor market with persistent burnout, remote and hybrid options are one of the few levers available without raising labor costs. n

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