Overall Winner: Hospice Compassus

Hospice Compassus extends helping hand not only to patients but its employees

It's taken Deborah Troy more than two decades but she has finally found what she calls “the perfect employer.”

And she is not alone. Nearly 20 employees sang the praises of Hospice Compassus in nominating it for a Workplace Excellence Award, earning this company the title of Overall Winner.

The awards were created by the Southwest Arizona Human Resources Association and the Yuma Sun to recognize businesses in Yuma with excellent people practices, and according to the staff at Hospice Compassus, this young company does exactly that.

Troy, a registered nurse, cited the culture and teamwork among colleagues as the reasons behind her nomination of Hospice Compassus for the award.

Sandra Franks-Melendez, a certified nursing assistant, knows firsthand how far her colleagues will go to lend a helping hand — not only for patients but for fellow employees. Franks-Melendez said in her nomination that over the past few years, she has experienced “life-changing events” and each time, Hospice Compassus helped her get back on her feet. “This is a great place to work,” she said.

The aid comes from Compassus Cares Program that, according to executive Director Amberly Hodgin, is a way to show employees that “colleagues are cared for.” Hodgin credits the Cares Program with contributing to the pervasive positive atmosphere at work.

Founded in 2007, Hospice Compassus serves terminally ill patients and their families, and employs 36 men and women at its 24th Street Yuma location. More specifically, the company offers day-to-day medical care, pain management, respite care, as well as music therapy and spiritual outreach. On the employee side, Hospice Compassus focuses its efforts on recruitment and retention, employee benefits, and learning, training and development.

Michelle Roden, a care consultant, identified the company's No. 1 goal: patients. Her comments were echoed by the director of clinical services, Jildara Stampley, who said that job title is essentially inconsequential. “We are all important to the patient and family care.

“We work as a team,” she added.

The team participates in weekly mentoring and monitoring meetings for individual instruction, and thanks to a tuition reimbursement program, colleagues who wish to advance their skills can tap into funds for study materials, registration fees and more.

“Hospice Compassus believes in offering new and continuous development for all of our colleagues,” said Hodgin.

Besides that, continuing to improve employee retention is on Hodgin's radar. Through weekly meetings with mentors and fellow workers, learning opportunities, improvement strategies and goals are laid out in detail. It seems to be working.

“College numbers are substantially increasing, turnover is down, and colleague satisfaction is up,” said Hodgin. Sounds ideal.