St. Joe's Culture
Providing exemplary, compassionate care to patients in Hamilton-Niagara-Brant and neighbouring regions of Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Haldimand-Norfolk, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is a multi-site academic health sciences centre and world-class leader in advancements in patient care, education and research. St. Joe’s continues to attract committed individuals from the region and abroad who share our vision to deliver the highest quality care experience to those we are privileged to serve.
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is an employer who leads in creating an exceptional workplace environment to attract, retain, and inspire talented individuals seeking a rewarding career in healthcare.
Physical Workplace
- Situated in downtown Hamilton, St. Joe’s Charlton Campus is within minutes of YMCA, GO Station, a variety of restaurants, fitness club, and shopping mall.
- St. Joseph’s West 5th Campus opened in February 2014. The building represents a ten-year long redevelopment project indented to re-invent the way we deliver mental health and medical care to the members of our community. This state-of-the-art facility features a 70% natural light environment, open lobby space, on-site cafeteria, a patient run café, a chapel, book store, clothing store and much more.
- Both the Charlton and West 5th Campus feature large outdoor spaces with trees, benches, gazebos, spiritual gardens and labyrinth. Each Campus combines historic with new architecture and features an employee lounge; live musical entertainment area; newly renovated library; religious observance room; onsite cafeteria; secure bicycle parking; outdoor eating space; self-serve lunchroom; on-site Tim Horton’s; and discounts at nearby restaurants.
- The Charlton, West 5th and King Campuses are also within minutes of department stores, variety of restaurants, fitness clubs, walking trails, community gardens and local sites for Mohawk College and McMaster University.
Work Atmosphere & Communications
- Employees enjoy Jeans for St. Joe’s denim days each Friday with a small donation, can listen to music while working, employee sports teams, and organized social events.
- Helps employees balance their work and personal life with a variety of alternative work arrangements including flexible hours, shortened and compressed work week options, telecommuting and reduced summer hours.
- The hospital hosts a number of employee recognition events, including the "Annual Nursing Excellence Awards" dinner and the "Volunteer Recognition Dinner". The hospital Foundation acknowledges all its employees every year through “St. Joseph the Worker Day” by providing complimentary coffee and muffins for everyone as well as several other staff appreciation events.
- St. Joseph's communicates with employees through staff focus groups, quarterly president's forums, and the hospital's intranet on a regular basis.
- The hospital also keeps employees up-to-date and gathers feedback through a corporate intranet site; traditional suggestion box; and an email suggestion box.
Financial Benefits & Compensation
- To keep salaries competitive, the hospital participates in outside salary surveys every 12 months.
- Salary reviews occur every three years for unionized staff (in accordance with their collective agreements) and annually for non-union staff.
- In addition, St. Joe’s provides a defined benefit pension plan, life and disability insurance, retirement planning assistance, subsidized home and auto insurance, a basic RSP plan with payroll deductions, and vendor discounts available, from hotels to health and well-being services.
- Supports employees who are new parents with maternity and parental leave top-up payments (84% to 93% of salary for 25-27 weeks) and provides parental top-up to new fathers and adoptive parents (84% to 93% of salary for 10 weeks).
- Encourages ongoing employee education with tuition subsidies for courses taken at outside institutions (to $1,000), financial bonuses for some course completions, and a variety of in-house and online training programs.
Health & Family-Friendly Benefits
- The hospital's health benefits plans are managed by Manulife.
- St. Joseph's maintains four separate health benefits plans for its non-union and union employee groups, with coverage varying with each plan (minimum coverage is highlighted below).
- As part of the health plan, the employer pays 75% of the premiums.
- Permanent full-time employees who work 37.5 hours per week are eligible for coverage.
- The maximum waiting period for new employees is 90 days.
- Family coverage is available on the health benefits plan.
- Retiree coverage is also available on the health plan, up to 65 years of age.
- The basic plan includes routine dental, restorative dental, eye care ($200 every 2 years), traditional medicine coverage, alternative medicine coverage, massage therapy, medical equipment and supplies, employee assistance (EAP) plan, and travel insurance. (Health benefits are also available for retiring employees, with the level dependent upon each employee group).
- The hospital's family-friendly benefits include fertility treatments, maternity top-up payments (84% to 93% of salary for 25-27 weeks), parental leave top-up for new fathers (84% to 93% of salary for 10 weeks), parental leave top-up for adoptive parents (84% to 93% of salary for 10 weeks), health benefits during maternity and parental leave, and eligibility to extend their parental leave by applying and having approved an unpaid personal leave.
- Additional family-friendly benefits include flexible working hours, telecommuting, shortened work week (fewer hours with less pay), reduced summer hours program, and compressed work week.
Vacation & Personal Time-Off
- New employees receive 3 weeks of vacation allowance after their first year. Vacation increases by one week after 3 to 5 years on the job (depending on employee group).
- Long-serving employees receive a maximum of 7 weeks of vacation each year.
- Employees can also apply for an unpaid leave of absence.
Employee Engagement
- Employees receive individual performance reviews every 24 months. Informal progress reviews are also held during the year. Managers receive training in how to conduct effective performance reviews.
- Performance feedback is also solicited from co-workers and other managers familiar with each employee's work.
- As part of the review process employees can provide confidential feedback on their manager's performance.
- Exit interview provided for departing employees.
- St. Joe’s recognizes exceptional performance through a variety of rewards including nursing excellence awards, long service awards, and mission legacy award, for individuals who have made great contributions and left permanent imprints on the organization.
- St. Joseph's Healthcare sponsors its own in-house employee engagement survey and hires an external consultant to conduct confidential employee surveys, which are held every 2 years.
Training & Skills Development
- Employees receive tuition subsidies for courses related to their position. (Employers pay up to $1,000 in subsidies).
- Employees may also receive tuition subsidies for courses unrelated to their current position. (Employers pay up to $1,000 in tuition subsidies for non-related courses).
- St. Joseph's Healthcare established a learning network of all staff responsible for training and education in order to track learning initiatives, share best practices, and support knowledge transfers.
- The hospital is currently working with McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business in the development of a new "Leadership Development Program for Directors and Physician Leaders". St. Joseph's also maintains a unique "Leadership Development Program" for its management personnel.
- Has also partnered with the University Health Network in Toronto and the Schulich School of Business to enable graduates of their Leadership Development Program to receive additional certification.
- The hospital also supports ongoing career development with financial bonuses for course completions, in-house apprenticeship and skilled trades programs, in-house training programs, online training programs, online employee skills inventory, formal mentoring program; career planning services, new employee orientation program, formal management training program, an in-house annual "Leadership Conference" for managers and front-line personnel, and new "Learning Network" that is comprised of employees who are responsible for the implementing training initiatives across the hospital.
Community Involvement
- Going beyond their role in the community, the hospital and its employees are great community citizens supporting local initiatives as well as an International Outreach Program as part of the St. Joseph's Health System that directs medical personnel, supplies and equipment to countries in need.
- Approximately 25 charitable and community organizations were supported last year.
- Beyond its important role in the community and support for such initiatives as the annual United Way campaign, the hospital and its employees also manage an international outreach program that provides aid in the form of medical staff, medical supplies and equipment, to various countries in need.
- In particular, St. Joseph's and its employees have sent two to three large shipping containers of medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in Haiti every year since 1990.