Organization Profile
St. John's Lutheran Hospital
Organization Overview
Nestled at the foot of the scenic Cabinet Mountains in Libby, Montana lies one of the most technologically advanced rural hospitals in the Northwest.
St. John's Lutheran Hospital is a Critical Access, Not-For-Profit, freestanding community hospital, with state-of-the-art technology not typically found in 25-bed rural hospitals.
Serving the 16,000 residents of South Lincoln County for over 50 years, St. John’s employs 230 trained professionals, making us one of the largest private employers in Lincoln County. Because St. John’s is 90 miles from a larger hospital which has more extensive services, we maintain a 24/7 Emergency Department staffed with physicians certified in advanced cardiac and trauma life support, a 3-bed Intensive/Critical Care Unit, Imaging services that include MRI, CT, ultra-sound and mammography, and a 24-hour full-service laboratory including microbiology and blood banking.
With an experienced medical staff of 17 providers, we are able to offer a wide array of healthcare expertise, including family medicine; walk in/urgent care; obstetrics and gynecology; internal medicine; podiatry; and general and orthopedic surgery. Our full service philosophy of care has grown with our community’s vision and support.
We strongly believe in our mission to provide “Excellent Healthcare Close to Home” by being a great place for employees to work, physicians to practice medicine, and patients to receive care. In keeping with this mission, we have developed a variety of ancillary services encompassing rehabilitation (physical, occupational, and speech), home health and hospice, social services, and community outreach programs in wellness, diabetes education, and nutrition services. In addition, St. John’s is in the process of developing a Facility Master plan in order to assure that the healthcare needs of our community will be met for many years to come.
Recently we teamed up with the Studer Group to embark on a Journey to Excellence that will strengthen and enhance our mission to provide excellent healthcare close to home. While we consistently score above 90 percent on our patient satisfaction surveys, our Journey aims to raise the bar by comparing ourselves to other world-class rural facilities. Our managers and staff are committed to learning new and better ways to improve our services and collectively take our facility and staff to new heights in patient service and satisfaction. At St. John’s, the patient comes first…always!
Organization History
HISTORY:
St. John’s has been providing excellent healthcare services for many years; we have a great history. But this was not the first Hospital to serve this area. The first Hospital in Libby was located on Second Street near California Avenue. It was staffed by two physicians, Dr. Flinn and Dr. Morrison, and opened in the early 1900’s.
The second Hospital in Libby was Kootenai Hospital, which opened on May 1, 1914. Because electricity and electric light arrived in the valley in 1911, telephone service came in 1913, and a sewer system was installed in 1914, Kootenai Valley Hospital was equipped with all the modern conveniences of the time.
The third Hospital, Libby Hospital, was converted from a rooming house for teachers in about 1925. It had a rough and rocky economic road. To preserve the services and the facility, the J. Neils Lumber Company purchased the Hospital in 1944 and contracted with Dr. Cairns to manage the facility. This Hospital closed when construction of St. John’s was completed.
St. John’s Lutheran Hospital is the fourth Hospital facility in Libby. Ground breaking took place on May 13, 1951 and the facility opened on July 1, 1952. St. John’s has no formal connection with the Lutheran Church, however, when it was built it borrowed the legal, non-profit status of the local Lutheran Church. In addition, the J. Neils family and other prominent Lutheran congregation members worked diligently and tirelessly to raise funds in the community to help build the Hospital. In appreciation for these efforts and recognition of these contributions, this facility has remained St. John’s Lutheran Hospital throughout the years. A major remodel took place in 1983 (the current patient wing) and another addition was added in 2002 (the ER/PromptCare areas and the current main entrance).
NOT-FOR-PROFIT STATUS:
Our status is often confusing for new employees and community. St. John’s legal structure, as defined by the Internal Revenue Service code, is a Section 501(c)3 nonprofit, charitable organization. This means that the Hospital has no stockholders who receive any monies or dividends that may be left over after the Hospital has paid all of its expenses. The community is really the owner of the facility and the Hospital Board oversees the Hospital on their behalf.
St. John’s receives no tax support or subsidies from the City or County. It survives on the charges generated and monies received for the services it provides to patients. After all expenses of payroll, benefits, equipment and operations are paid, whatever money may be left, and we hope it is a positive number, remains with the Hospital to be reinvested in facilities, equipment, staff and services. Individuals do not receive dividend payments from monies that the Hospital generates.
HOSPITAL FOUNDAITON
St. John’s Lutheran Hospital Foundation is a separate not-for-profit organization. It exists to raise funds and find other avenues of support to sustain and expand St. John’s programs and services. This Board is also responsible for managing and dispersing the funds it generates. The work of this Board includes special events such as Playing for Fundsies (golf tournament), Festival of Trees, Physician’s Breakfast, and others. It also works with endowments, planned giving and other general fundraising and development. As an employee you have the opportunity to have your Foundation contribution made via payroll deduction.
ORGANIZATION/GOVERNING STRUCTURE:
A twelve member Board of Trustees, a current list of whom is in your packet, serve with no pay for a four-year term. The Board as a whole is legally, ethically and morally responsible for anything and everything that happens at the Hospital. The Board’s role is to set policy and provide oversight of the Chief Executive Officer; the Board hires and supervises the CEO.
Most new employees have questions regarding the organizational structure of the Hospital; our chain of command. To help explain the “who reports to whom” questions, there is a current Organizational Chart in your packet that displays all the departments and the current reporting structure.
To make sure that we are always thinking ahead, the Hospital has developed a Strategic Plan. This Plan outlines a series of goals and objectives designed to assure the Hospital continues to meet the healthcare needs of this community in a financially responsible manner. The plan is updated annually and often looks several years into the future. Your packet includes a sheet listing the current major goal areas.
INTERESTING STATISTICS (from Fiscal year 2007):
· We are licensed for 25 Acute / Swing beds.
· We admitted 1,198 inpatients into these beds.
· We currently have 180 FTE’s which translates into about 205 employees.
· Our total expense budget is $19,978,671.
· We delivered 95 babies last year!
· We performed 1,317 surgical procedures.
· We washed 197,600 pounds of dirty clothes/linen.
· We served (and some of us ate) 87,521 meals.
Benefits
MANAGER BENEFITS
January 1, 2010
Benefits are an important part of every employee’s Total Compensation Package, and we strive to have excellent benefits here at St. John’s. This summary gives an outline of each of our major benefits so prospective employees can get a quick overview of their potential package. For complete information on coverage, refer to each Plan Document and/or the HR Manual.
Medical, Dental & Vision Plan:
St. John’s has a partially self-funded plan, currently administered through Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Montana. This means we have a flexible plan that we run ourselves, but we have access to the very best administrative and network support available in our area. There are three plans from which employees can choose. The premium amount you pay depends on which plan you choose and how many family members you want to cover. See attached summary sheet for an overview of all three plans and their current premium rates. New employees are eligible for medical benefits beginning on the first of the month following date of hire.
Life Insurance Plan:
St. John’s pays for a $50,000 life insurance policy for managers/physicians. Additional coverage may be purchased at group rates through payroll deduction from the same insurance provider that covers the base policy.
Long-Term Disability Insurance:
All employees at St. John’s receive a free long-term disability policy after 90 calendar days from date of hire. In the event you become disabled for more than 90 days, the policy will pay 60% of your normal gross salary (up to a $10,000 max) per month until age 65.
Short-Term Disability Insurance:
All employees at St. John’s receive a self-funded short-term disability (STD) policy beginning one year from date of hire. In the event you become disabled, and have exhausted all of your EIB, STD starts paying on the 15th calendar day after injury/sickness. STD pays 60% of your gross income up to 90 days.
Paid Time Off Benefits:
Earned Leave (EL) pays for time off up to 29 days per year through the 4th year of employment. Beginning at year 5, the accrual rate changes to 10.46 hours or 34 days per year. Hours may be carried over from year to year to a maximum of 10 weeks (400 hours).
In addition to EL, an Extended Illness Bank (EIB) also accrues for each employee at the rate of 6 days (48 hours) per year. This can be used for longer time off due to personal injury or illness. Days carry over year to year to a maximum of 200 hours (almost 5 weeks). Please note Earned Leave and Extended Illness Bank accruals may vary if a contract is in place.
Other Benefits:
Time off for jury duty is paid at the difference between normal pay and the amount paid by the court. Up to 5 days of paid bereavement leave is available for employees who lose a family member. These paid leaves are in addition to EL and EIB.
Retirement Plan:
Savings for retirement is critical, and St. John’s actively promotes this through its retirement plan. Employees may begin contributing into the plan upon hire. After one year, St. John’s matches dollar-for-dollar up to 3% of the employee’s compensation. There is NO vesting schedule on the match, so whatever is in your account is YOURS, even if you leave St. John’s down the road.
Additionally, after two years, St. John’s begins putting in some additional amounts to your account with no match required.
2 years of service………….. .8%
3 years of service………….. 1.2%
4 years of service………….. 1.6%
5 years or more……………. 2.0%
Again, there is NO vesting schedule for these contributions from St. John’s. This means that each person may receive an additional 5% of their income (3% match and 2% contribution) by the time they are here 5 years. The money may be invested in a variety of funds available through several local brokers.
Education:
Education is a top priority at St. John’s. Each professional may plan for education each year as part of the budget process. We also offer a Tuition Assistance Plan to all employees pursuing higher education in a field related to their current or potential job at St. John’s. Generally this pays for one-half of tuition for approved college courses.
Employee Discounts:
As part of the Medical Plan, employees and their family members are given some discounts on certain medical services provided by St. John’s. We also provide free flu shots every year, and periodic screening lab tests for employees at free or reduced prices. Our award-winning Food Services provide meals for all employees at a very minimal cost, and meal tickets may be purchased in the Dining Room using payroll deduction.
Questions?
Contact Erin Leighty, HR Coordinator at 406-293-0135 or [email protected].