About a month ago, I received an invitation to attend the Pathway employee summit. Being stationed in my basement office for the majority of my time at Pathway, I figured that it would be good to emerge and actually meet some of my fellow employees face-to-face. Not knowing what to expect, I entered the summit with an open mind and an open notebook, hoping to hit up some new professionals to contribute to Perspectives. I also had a burning question in my mind: What exactly does Pathway Health Services do?
As a loyal and hard-working employee, I probably should be able to recite the corporate mission statement with my eyes closed and discuss the QIS transition in detail to curious analysts. In reality, my work for the organization is strictly related to Perspectives, and I have little need for a physical office or visiting care centers. I often talk to nurses, administrators and other professionals about how they are helping the health care field, but I rarely take a step back to understand the bigger picture. However, during my time at the summit, I found that my perspective of the organization that I work for became clear and focused. I still can’t recite the mission statement with my eyes closed, but I did leave the summit with a greater understanding of how Pathway Health Services operates and the services they provide.
As the summit began early Saturday morning, I quietly took my seat in the back of a large meeting room, trying my best to go unnoticed. It was my intention to assess my surroundings in order to get a feel for the dynamics of the larger group. About a half hour into the introduction of Pathway, I realized it was impossible for me to observe because my name was called. Hesitant and red-faced, I stood up and waved to the group. During my embarrassing introduction I found out an interesting fact about Perspectives – it reaches close to 25,000 people bi-weekly via e-mail. This statistic took me by surprise, especially considering that the newsletter originates from my isolated basement office every other week.
After listening to a few informational sessions about Pathway and the company goals for the upcoming year, I found that it wasn’t just the Perspectives statistic that astounded me, but the company as a whole.
Three amazing individuals started Pathway Health Services following meetings held in a basement (do you sense a theme?) a little over 11 years ago. Today, their ideas have resulted in a dedicated team of health care experts numbering over 150. 70% of these people made the trek to Wisconsin to attend the summit. Among the attendees that I met over the weekend, each demonstrated an unwavering dedication to the health care profession.
I met some of our master trainers who spend countless hour creating manuals, meeting with clients and educating the public on a myriad of health issues. I met individuals who conduct mock surveys and mentor staff members in care centers around the nation. I met our wound specialist who has dedicated her life to creating programs to assist care centers in identifying and documenting wounds. After speaking with so many dedicated individuals with so many specialties, I no longer needed to assess my surroundings for the group dynamic – I decided that the whole group was dynamic.
The weekend culminated in an awards ceremony, as most company outings do. It’s been my experience that people are so busy with work, they don’t go to the trouble of acknowledging their fellow employees. That was not the case at Pathway, where many people within the organization took time out of their busy schedules to write amazing recommendations for numerous staff members. The impact of Pathway employees was felt beyond company walls, as clients also took part in nominating employees for outstanding customer satisfaction.
Reflecting on the summit, I am very thankful that I emerged from my basement office for the weekend. I have a better understanding of the vision of company, I met many of the dedicated staff who makes the company successful, and I found a new “perspective” on what it means to be an employee at Pathway. Although I must admit, I’m still working on the memorizing the mission statement.
And the winners are:
Dianne Weaver – Outstanding Customer Satisfaction
Nancy Foss – Phyllis King Award for overall dedication to the health care profession.
Congratulations to all the nominees!