"Northwestern Memorial is an organization dedicated to taking care of people and that starts with our employees," said Dean Manheimer, senior vice president, Human Resources. "We are honored to once again be recognized by Working Mother for our efforts to provide working mothers and families with a broad range of services that help them balance professional demands with personal ones."
In surveying the companies that applied for this year's list, particular weight was given to questions in three areas: flexible scheduling, the most critical benefit for working mothers; child-care options, because without them parents can't work; and time off for new parents, because it's critical for mothers to bond with their newborns without suffering professionally.
This year, Northwestern Memorial was recognized for providing increased schedule flexibility through two new programs. The first is a new Paid Time-Off (PTO) program. The program is structured such that vacation, holiday, and sick time are combined into one 'bank,' giving employees more leverage for how and when they use their time off. For the nursing staff who make up approximately one-third of the hospital's total employees, the hospital implemented an online self-scheduling system. Through secure computer access, nurses can select the shifts they would like to work based on guidelines that apply to every unit, and even have the option of picking up additional shifts, if available. Nurses can also request time off up to six months in advance.
Northwestern Memorial was also recognized for its i
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Contact: Molly Rabinovitz
mrabinov@nmh.org
312-926-9632
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
12-Sep-2005