 The University of Maryland Medical
Center Expands Education Benefits to Cover Every Stage of Life
One lesson emerging from hospitals’ ongoing recruitment
and retention efforts is that unique job benefits can, over time, reduce
turnover. The challenge, however, is offering the right benefits for the
hospital and its employees.
The University of Maryland Medical Center believes it has
found an answer in expanded educational benefits — greatly expanded
benefits. “All employees can now find educational benefits that suit their
interests and needs,” says Ann Regier, the medical center’s director
of clinical practice and professional development. She notes that previously,
educational benefits were limited to tuition reimbursement for employees
pursuing an academic degree.
Regier explains that the expanded program is grounded in the
realization that not everyone has the same education needs. “We now define
education more broadly,” she says. “We recognize both formal and
informal educational opportunities.”
So, while the new program continues to provide tuition
assistance for degree-seeking employees (and in fact, increased that support),
it also covers seminars and workshops in their various configurations, from
half days to full days. In addition, it reimburses for dues paid to
professional organizations, and for subscriptions to professional journals.
Prep courses for critical care certification as well as the application fees
are covered. “Employees are eligible for $500 in broadly defined
continuing education support — a benefit that virtually every employee
should be able to take advantage of, ” notes Regier.
There is a further benefit for direct patient care staff and
their families (the only benefit so limited): Qualified dependents who attend
college are eligible for tuition assistance. “An employee could have three
children in college at the same time and still receive benefits,” Regier
notes. “In fact, the employee could be in graduate school or enrolled in a
continuing education program, and also receive a benefit.”
The medical center has not overlooked employees with younger
children, either: it has made a tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan
available. While these plans don’t include an employer contribution, they
do make saving for college easier for families that choose to take advantage of
them.
All the expanded benefits were launched at the same time, in
2002. While the medical center is measuring employee response, it is still too
early to judge the program’s longer-term impact on retention. In fact,
says Regier, employees are still learning how to access the benefit with the
broadest base, the $500 continuing education benefit. Use is, however,
increasing.
“While we’re still growing the number of
participants,” says Regier, “it’s really the sum of all these
parts that we’re interested in. We’re proud of crafting a plan that
has something to offer no matter where an employee is in life, and with so many
ways to use it.”
Contact:
Ann Regier
Director, Clinical Practice
and Professional Development
University of Maryland Medical Center
Phone: 410/328-6257
E-mail: aregier@umm.edu (Back to the top)
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