Flexibility, adaptability part of Interim HealthCare’s award-winning workplace

Interim HealthCare of the Upstate added to its wall of awards last month when Greenville Business magazine named CEO Charles McDonough one of Greenville’s 50 Most Influential individuals of 2021. For his part, McDonough credits Interim HealthCare’s culture of adaptability and flexibility for its award-winning ways.

“The business has been around for 42 years, and we have a lot of operational excellence in taking care of patients,” McDonough says. “But, at the end of the day, we can’t be who we are without the people that work here, so a top workplace to us is one of the most important things we do, on top of our quality of care.”

The company core’s values are built around five pillars of success – integrity, excellence, adaptability, financial success and operational excellence – that allow it to live out its mission of ‘Honoring God through the enrichment of human life.’

A big part of Interim HealthCare’s success, according to McDonough, is fostering a flexible workplace that adapts to employees’ lives and allows the home health care provider to take care of more patients.

“Anything we go into, it’s employee impact, what is the patient impact, and then ultimately, what is the overall impact to the financial bottom line,” McDonough said. “But understanding those top two things are the most important thing that we think about on a daily basis, without exception.”

The culture of a company has become critically important in recent years with increased employee interest in the values, goals, attitudes and practices of their employers. McDonough describes Interim HealthCare’s culture as mission first, followed by integrity.

“We always say in our orientation process that there is no right way to do the wrong thing, so everything that we do is around doing the right thing with integrity, with compassion, around compliance, and then making sure we can maximize that to help all the patients and our employees that we can.”

The Interim workplace encourages a family atmosphere, employees say. And while the work performed by Interim HealthCare is serious, having a bit of fun is also part of the company’s culture. For example, Interim HealthCare hosts an annual ‘Dunk the CEO’ event to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

“We have the opportunity to raise some money for a serious cause but also have a little bit of fun while doing it,” McDonough said.

For Interim Nurse Rebecca Siliba, a flexible schedule played the biggest part in her decision to accept a position with Interim HealthCare.

A nurse for the past eight-and-a-half years, Siliba was accustomed to working 12-hour shifts at a hospital. But after the birth of her daughter 10 months ago, she decided to consider a career in the home health industry.

“My kid is everything,” Siliba said. “She’s the number one reason I made the decision to jump in, and I have to say, six months later, I’m not disappointed.”

Like most who choose a career in nursing, Siliba enjoys helping people live healthier lives. But after almost a decade in nursing, her passion for the profession was waning.

“Coming to home health really has brought my passion back for nursing,” she said. “Going into patients’ homes and seeing how they live and their environment, you get a whole new perspective. You get a whole new outlook on life. It really does make you more compassionate.”

Nurses hired by Interim HealthCare receive a six-week orientation and training program that covers company policies, home healthcare compliance and ride-along visits.

“A lot of the skills that we do I felt comfortable with because we do them in the hospital, but when you get to talk to a patient on their level, in their environment, even though you’re doing a skill, you get better outcomes,” Siliba said. “Learning how to talk to a patient as a person instead of as a room number, it’s eye opening and it’s a wonderful experience.”

Siliba also enjoys the team approach of home health care that she believes leads to better communication and a greater consistency of care. Her group of patients, for example, all have the same physical and occupational therapists, LPNs and managers.

“Patients are in direct contact with us, we’re in direct contact with each other, as well as our management team,” Siliba said. “I’ve seen and talked with my management team more in the last six months than I have in a year-and-a-half on a job somewhere else.”

For information on careers with Interim HealthCare of the Upstate and Interim HealthCare of the Midlands, call (800) 439-4590 or visit interimcares.com.