Tanner Health System is burnishing its reputation as a top healthcare employer with its latest accolades from one of the industry’s leading magazines.
Modern Healthcare has named Tanner one of the nation’s 2017 Best Places to Work in Healthcare. There are 150 employers on Modern Healthcare’s list, including healthcare providers, biotech companies, laboratories, staffing agencies and others.
Tanner was one of only two Georgia-based healthcare organizations featured on the list, along with Alpharetta-based Jackson Physician Search. Two Alabama organizations were also on the list — South Baldwin Regional Medical Center and HealthSouth Corp in Birmingham.
With more than 3,000 employees, Tanner is one of the largest employers in west Georgia and east Alabama.
The ranking comes at a time when many healthcare providers are vying to fill open positions. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the aging population and health insurance reform is driving the need for more healthcare professionals, with the field projected to grow almost 20 percent by 2024. Health care is expected to add about 2.3 million new jobs in less than a decade, according to the bureau, making it the largest area of growth than any other group of occupations.
“Healthcare organizations are competing not only for professionals, but the top professionals,” said Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner Health System. “At Tanner, we’re looking for professionals who share our vision for delivering exceptional patient care — people who are quality- and experience-driven. But then, so is everyone else in the industry, because we all know that our workforce is the cornerstone of a successful healthcare organization.”
This is the second time Tanner has earned a place among Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work — Tanner was also featured in the magazine’s inaugural list in 2007. Tanner has also been featured numerous times among the Best Places to Work in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Chronicle — most recently in 2016 and 2017 — as well as one of the Great Places to Work in Healthcare in Becker’s Hospital Review in 2015 and one of the Best Places to Work in Georgia by Georgia Trend for 2007 and 2011.
Modern Healthcare partners with the Best Companies Group on the assessment process, which includes an extensive employee survey. Surveys are anonymous, encouraging employees to be candid in their responses. Feedback from the surveys and other employer metrics are used to determine the list.
“Employers in today’s highly-regulated healthcare industry face great challenges in recruiting, engaging and retaining top talent which is key to quality care and positive patient experiences,” said Aurora Aguilar, editor of Modern Healthcare. “I commend those organizations that have risen to the occasion and have made the list of Best Places to Work in Healthcare.”
Howard said he hopes the new Modern Healthcare ranking will help give Tanner an edge in recruiting and retaining the industry’s top professionals.
“This is an industry-specific award, exploring the issues that are particularly important to those in the healthcare field,” said Howard. “This is assurance to our current staff that, as an organization, we value their contributions and are working to keep ourselves out front. It also sends up a flare to get us noticed by others in the industry who may think the best career opportunities are in more metropolitan areas, but that rural regions like west Georgia and east Alabama offer some impressive opportunities as well.”
More information about Tanner’s services and medical staff is available at www.tanner.org. For more information on career opportunities at Tanner, including current openings and to submit applications, visit www.TannerCareers.org.