Employee forums: 10 things you need to know

Steve Edwards and other system leaders shared updates at our first systemwide virtual employee forum on Sept. 28.

They offered insight on topics ranging from quality and finances to patient satisfaction and your benefits.

Here are a few of the key takeaways:

State of the System – President and CEO Steve Edwards

• We are at our most intense point in the COVID-19 fight right now.
• COVID-19 can be worse in older patients and those with underlying conditions. The most common underlying conditions are: obesity, hypertension and prediabetes.
• Masking helps and matters. Masks reduce the amount of virus you are taking in. That may be why we have so many people who are asymptomatic.

Financial Report – Jake McWay, Executive Vice President and CFO

• We made a decision early on to keep our workforce intact. This turned out to be a great decision, helping us rebound quickly.
• We had a dramatic loss of volume and revenue in April. That has been followed by four months of positive financials.
• Admissions, surgeries, ED and provider encounters dropped drastically in April. Those numbers have rebounded, some to well over 100% of where we were in 2019. "This is something our people made happen, and it's amazing to see."

A Patient-Centered Response to COVID-19 – Kaylyn Lambert, System Director of Patient Experience

• A record 76.8% of patients gave CoxHealth the highest rating possible in July surveys.
• The vast majority of patients – about 86% – are rating our service an 8, 9 or 10.

Human Resources Updates – Andy Hedgpeth, Vice President, Human Resources

• We are changing to a May-April benefits plan year, beginning in May 2021. To bridge to the new timeframe, we will have a one-time transitional period of January-April, 2021.
• We will have two open enrollments, one this fall for the January-April transitional period, and one in spring 2021 for the new plan year cycle of May 2021-April 2022.

Steve Edwards' final thought for CoxHealth employees

"I want to acknowledge how heroic the people in this organization are. And how incredibly proud I am to be a part of this.

We are a family. We want to treat each other as a family. We want to take care of our community, which is a family as well.

I personally know many people impacted by this disease. When we work to protect our community, it’s not just because it is our market, it is because because its our community, the people we love and care for.

Thank you for what you do for our community. It takes the entire team to make our system work and we are grateful for you."