Hospital and health system leaders recognized by Minnesota Hospital Association for health care workforce innovations and commitment to quality and safety
ST. PAUL, Minn. — 20 hospital and health system teams and individuals from across Minnesota were recognized this week by the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) for their efforts and innovations to retain and recruit Minnesota’s health care workforce. MHA also recognized two individuals with the annual Good Catch for Patient Safety Awards. The awards were presented at MHA’s Inaugural Workforce Innovation and Connecting for Quality Conferences. "There is incredible work being done every day to address the workforce shortage and provide the highest quality care to our patients, said Dr. Rahul Koranne, president and CEO of MHA.
“It is not only incredibly important to honor these teams and individuals doing this work, but also valuable to convene these frontline leaders to share and learn from each other.”
The MHA Workforce Innovation team awards were presented in four categories, as follows:
Organizational culture, infrastructure, and commitment
- Hennepin Healthcare’s Leading Courageous Conversations about Race program and Health Equity Compass program
- Sanford Health’s Employee Experience team
- Rainy Lake Medical Center’s ICEBox initiative
- St. Luke’s Hospital’s Ambulatory Population Health and Quality Management program
Pipelines and partnerships
- Winona Health’s Simulation Lab
- Essentia Health’s Workforce Development team
- Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital’s Education to Employment Imaging program
- M Health Fairview’s Workforce Partnerships team
- New Ulm Medical Center’s Investment in the Next Generation of Rural Minnesota Health Care Workforce team
Hiring and recruiting
- Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare’s Building Something Bigger campaign
Retention and resiliency
- Windom Area Health’s Nurse Morale team
- Ridgeview Medical Center’s Defining Nursing Professional Practice team
The MHA Workforce Innovation leadership awards were presented in four categories, as follows:
Organizational culture, infrastructure, and commitment
- Rochelle Sjoberg, chief human resource officer, Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital Pipelines and partnerships
- Tanya Velishek, manager of workforce clinical pathways and partnership, M Health Fairview
- Jon Moe, education coordinator, North Shore Health
Hiring and recruiting
- Shelly Schroeder, manager or respiratory care, Mercy Hospital
- Laurin Cathey, chief human resources officer, Children’s Minnesota
Retention and resiliency
- Kerry Appleton, resilience coach, North Memorial Health
- Dr. Annie Ideker, associate medical director, HealthPartners Inc.
2023 Health Care Workforce Champion
MHA also recognized Rhonda Kazik, chief nursing executive at Essentia Health, as the 2023 Health Care Workforce Champion. Selection criteria included the individual’s impact, innovative ideas and practices they have championed, and other information that described the individual’s extraordinary commitment to workforce development.
Good Catch for Patient Safety
MHA recognized the two most recent annual winners of MHA’s Good Catch for Patient Safety Award. The MHA Good Catch for Patient Safety Award is presented to Minnesota hospital and health system staff who demonstrate their commitment to keeping patients safe by speaking up to prevent potential harm to a patient. The 2021 annual award winner was Ali Fleming, a former imaging assistant with St. Francis Regional Medical Center. The 2022 annual Good Catch award was presented to Joshua Scharback, a nurse anesthetist with Children’s Minnesota.
For more information about the Workforce Innovation Awards, visit MHA > Data & Reporting > Workforce > MHA Workforce Awards (mnhospitals.org). For more information about the Good Catch Award, visit MHA > Quality & Patient Safety > Awards > Good Catch Awards (mnhospitals.org). For more information about Minnesota hospitals, visit www.mnhospitals.org.