Just over 110 people handle the human resource needs for a staff of 10,000. What follows is a list of some of their accomplishments in the past year.
Talent Acquisition & Workforce Development
- Hired 2,205 team members in 2024 for: Buffalo General Medical Center, Oishei Children's Hospital, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, DeGraff Medical Park, Kaleida Health Laboratories, Visiting Nursing Association of WNY, Olean General Hospital, Bradford Regional Medical Center and long-term care
- Net hires (new hires minus terminations) for some key roles*:
- Inpatient Hospital Staff Nurses: 181
- Assistive Personnel (e.g., Patient Care Assistants, Medical Assistants): 69
- Long-Term Care RNs and LPNs: 16
- Certified Nursing Assistants: 28
- Dietary (e.g., Nutrition Service Workers, Cooks): 31
- Environmental Service Aides: 27
- Laboratory personnel: 8
- Respiratory Therapists: 4
- Negotiated a memorandum of understanding with labor and 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds to offer our employees LPN training at Erie 1 BOCES
- Created a stronger partnership with Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology to connect students with Kaleida Health Laboratories, Pharmacy and our business office, and to assist them in interviewing for Kaleida Health jobs
* Full-time equivalents, rounded to nearest whole number
Benefits & Payroll
- Strengthened partnership with Highmark WNY to enhance medical and prescription plans with navigators, a customer service escalation process and a wellness debit card
- Transitioned to new pension service provider Alight
- Developed and implemented an operational process for employees transitioning from affiliates to Kaleida Health
- Advanced our capability to support multi-state employment
Compensation, HRIS & Workforce Analytics
- Launched compensation transformation for nonunion staff; completed compensation pay analysis with an external consultant to place jobs in appropriate market ranges, adjusted pay for some staff
- Adjusted our approach to New York State pay transparency law by posting up to the 75th percentile for nonunion positions
Integrated Absence
- Through 11/7/2024, processed 5,465 leave cases, 2,441,144.38 leave hours, equivalent to 1,251.8 FTE
- Instituted and developed new leave policy and procedure related to Pregnant Worker’s Fairness Act system-wide
- Created policy and procedure related to NYS Paid Prenatal Personal Leave (new leave type effective 1/1/2025)
Employee Health & Safe Patient Handling
- Through 11/14/2024, completed 8,945 annual health assessments, 4,842 new hire physicals & follow-up visits, and 4,544 flu shots and declinations
- Cleared new hire physicals within two days at 96 percent, consistently
- Implemented Early Mobilization Pilot at BGMC/GVI on NSICU and 4 North, increasing the education and understating of Safe Patient Handling equipment
The secret sauce to what we do in health care is the caring and capability of our people, and human resources is there every step of the way. Every HR colleague makes a difference and I am proud to work alongside them every day.
Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Ian Barrett
Labor Relations & Site HR Operations
- Prepared for NYSNA contract (expired 1/31/2025) and master contract CWA and 1199 SEIU (expires 5/31/2024) bargaining
- NYSNA contract renewal successfully completed
- Worked with chief nurse executives to support Clinical Staffing Committees (CSCs), including complaint resolution process, management training and interventions, and working with labor on specific initiatives
- In conjunction with Quality and Safety and labor, rolled out “Just Culture” framework and training to management team
- Worked with legal team and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion department to implement an issue-resolution process as it relates to diversity complaints from employees
Learning & Performance
- Developed three-year “Leading For Results” roadmap for leadership development, completing year one:
- Core leadership competencies established
- Decision rights resources developed and distributed
- High Performance Leadership Team (HPLT) training launched
1,734 employees attended general orientation (as of 11/1/24)
98 percent overall positive satisfaction results: “Best orientation I ever attended in 40 years!”
INFOR GoHR & New HR Webpages
Launched a new HR platform for Talent Acquisition, Benefits, Payroll, HRIS, Workforce Analytics, Employee Relations, Employee Self-Service and Management Self-Service with ADP as external payroll partner
- Worked with IT to improve customer experience by launching new internal KaleidaScope webpage using the latest Kaleida Health brand standards
- Launched new external webpage for former employees, people on leave and other stakeholders to reach HR from outside Kaleida Health
HR’s mission is to engage, empower and elevate our colleagues as we collectively provide high-quality care to our community. Please join Kaleida Health senior leadership and the HR leadership team in saying thank you for a job well done!