Children's Memorial Hospital makes Working Mother magazine's 100 Best Companies list
September 12, 2005 – Working Mother magazine has named
Children's Memorial Hospital as one of the nation's “100 Best Companies for
Working Mothers” in its annual roundup of family-friendly companies.
With a 550-question
application, the most rigorous of its kind, Working Mother has very stringent
criteria for the list. Winners demonstrate values like flexible hours, exemplary
company culture and outstanding advancement for women.
In its profile of
Children's Memorial, the magazine
highlighted the hospital's wide-range of work/life benefits; flexible schedules;
no-cost concierge service for all employees that provides such services as dry
cleaning, shoe repair and jewelry/watch repair; and child care assistance. “The
company's tight location in a densely populated urban neighborhood has forced it
to be creative,” according to Working
Mother. “Instead of an on-site center, Children's Memorial offers a ‘virtual
child-care program,' including 80 hours of free in-home child care, backup care
and discounts at area centers, summer programs, referrals and flexible spending
accounts.”
The winners, representing a
variety of industries, include some of the nation's most well-known companies
such as Citigroup, General Motors and Procter and Gamble. In Illinois, Children's
Memorial is joined by eight other employers. The hospital is one of only two in
the state (the other is Northwestern Memorial Hospital) to make the list.
“Our placement on the list
is another sure sign that we are making real progress toward our goal of being
one of the nation's best places to work,” said Patrick M. Magoon, president and
CEO, Children's Memorial Hospital. “While benefits programs and
human resource policies contribute to employee satisfaction and recruitment,
what really makes this a great place to work is the staff's commitment to our
mission. The support we provide each other helps Children's Memorial fulfill its
mission to improve the health and well-being of all
children.”
Children's Memorial's most
recent employee opinion survey puts the hospital at the 94th
percentile among 341 hospitals that conduct the survey, and was the highest
score ever for a children's hospital.
“Our overall satisfaction scores have been rising each time we do the survey,
contrary to the declining scores throughout the healthcare industry,” said
Magoon.
Through its efforts to be a
“best of the best” employer, in 2004 Children's Memorial ranked ninth out of
“The Top 25 Best Places to Work” survey by Chicago magazine.
In surveying the companies
that applied for this year's list, particular weight was given to questions in
three areas: “flexible
scheduling, the most critical benefit for working mothers; child-care options, because without
them parents can't work; and time off
for new parents, because it's critical for mothers to bond with their
newborns without suffering professionally,” according to Working
Mother.
The largest pediatric
hospital in Illinois, Children's Memorial Hospital provides specialists in every
pediatric specialty. As the educational facility for Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, these physicians see
more than 93,000 patients a year.
US News
& World Report ranks Children's Memorial among the nation's top pediatric hospitals. The
American Nurses Association has also recognized Children's Memorial as the first hospital in the state —
and the first pediatric hospital in the nation — to receive its prestigious Nursing
Excellence Magnet Award.
Founded in 1979,
Working Mother magazine reaches nearly 3 million readers and is
the only national magazine for career-committed mothers. Its 20-year
signature initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, is the most important
benchmark for work/life practices in corporate America.
For a complete list of the
2005 Working Mother 100 Best Companies go to www.workingmother.com
Contact: Chris James, Public Affairs &
Communications
773.880.6850