Mercy Offers Paid Parental Leave to 40K Co-workers

Paid leave also extends to foster and adoptive parents, both moms, and dads

ST. LOUIS (June 13, 2018) – While paid parental leave is fairly standard in other developed countries, it’s less common in the U.S., particularly in the healthcare industry. Two weeks of paid parental leave are now available to nearly 40,000 Mercy co-workers across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. To learn more about opportunities at Mercy, visit bit.ly/Mercy-Careers.

“This is awesome,” said Sherise Beckham, a registered dietitian at a Mercy Hospital Fort Scott. “I am proud to work for a hospital that cares about their employees…especially us working mommas!”

In 2017, Mercy surveyed co-workers about benefits and services. Mercy listened and then took action.

“Paid parental leave was one of the top concerns,” said Cindy Rosburg, Mercy’s chief human resources officer. “In the U.S., only about 10 percent of healthcare organizations offer paid parental leave. Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, never married or had children herself, but she adopted children. She founded the order in Ireland almost 200 years ago to help address critical human needs, especially those of children and mothers. For Mercy, providing paid parental leave is the right thing to do. Catherine would be proud.”

For co-workers, it’s no small change. Heather Schroeder, a registered nurse in Ozark, Missouri, has fostered children for nearly four years.

“Placement of foster children comes with the same joy and challenges as a birth or adoption,” she said. “To be honest, foster placements often come with more challenges because you are unable to prepare for the children in your home before they come and there are many requirements and tasks to complete within the first week they are placed. I am so thankful to work for Mercy and appreciate that every family, no matter how God chooses to bring them together, is valued.”

For Mercy, it’s a significant commitment. With 54 percent of Mercy’s nursing workforce under age 40, compared with an industry average of 37 percent, Mercy has a higher ratio of employees at the prime age for having children. In 2017 alone, nearly 1,000 Mercy co-workers gave birth. Although the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires all large employers to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave, the U.S. has no law requiring paid leave.

In addition to paid parental leave, Mercy is piloting a program to provide child and elder care assistance. Mercy also recently rolled out a program for co-workers to refinance student loans, as well as share the benefit with family and friends. One co-worker refinanced a $314,244 loan, the largest submitted to date, and will likely save almost $80,000 over the life of the loan.

Like paid parental leave, these were some of the co-workers’ top concerns.

Mercy, named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2018, 2017 and 2016 by IBM Watson Health, serves millions annually. Mercy includes more than 40 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, 800 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 44,000 co-workers and 2,100 Mercy Clinic physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In addition, Mercy’s IT division, Mercy Technology Services, supply chain organization, ROi, and Mercy Virtual commercially serve providers and patients in more than 20 states coast to coast.