Cookeville Regional Medical Center is making gains on hiring more staff to join the facility.
CEO Buffy Key said she attributes that to more employees returning to healthcare after COVID, as well as a return of the hospital’s workplace culture.
“I’m constantly trying to communicate with them and that’s the most important thing,” Key said. “Because I remember being that person on third shift at 2:00 in the morning thinking ‘Does anybody care that I’m doing this?’ And that’s so important to me. And it’s our medical staff, it’s our nurses, it’s our ancillary departments.”
Key said the medical center has had to increase the number of new staff orientations to twice a month. She said it is exciting to see the hospital making its way back to normal. Key said the first thing she tells new hires is ‘thank you,’ because it means they chose to join the medical facility’s staff.
Key said she believes the hiring efforts were also aided by investing more funds into staff salaries. She said in the most recent budget, the hospital allocated some $12 million for salary increases.
“And honestly I wish we could do even more,” Key said. “But this is what we’ve got right now and we’ll keep looking for more opportunities to improve that. It’s all about the people.”
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