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LMH Health Paid Time Off

At LMH Health, we have an extraordinary group of humans working to keep our community healthy, a support system that has certainly been called upon in record ways these past few years. In turn, it’s no surprise that this critical group of professionals must call on their own LMH community for added support.

LMH prides itself in being a representation of the holistic culture of Lawrence – in that it embraces a person’s whole self through mind, body, and spirit. As aforementioned, the world is a much different place post Covid, and with added stress and responsibilities placed on healthcare workers, we ask you to consider the following as we grow to make LMH a workplace that strives to meet the variety of needs, both professional and personal, of its employees.  

In order to protect our patients and follow current recommendations from epidemiological experts, we must follow the strictest precautions when we encounter personal symptoms of illness. In many cases, this means that we are required to take more days of PTO as we follow specific steps of testing, quarantine, and recovery. This is a systematic change from years past when our PTO was used much more at our own discretion of whether we were “well enough” to come to work. 

These protocols are not unique to healthcare workers, and colleagues with children know that these strict policies extend to public schools where children are no longer able to attend with moderate signs of illness. In hopes of avoiding a community health crisis, schools and daycares must insist that students stay home when they have symptoms of cold/cough even when no fever is present. This is putting stress on parents to either find care through family/friends or calling out for their scheduled shift and using their PTO for missed work. In most instances, the latter is chosen because it’s difficult to ask an individual outside of the home to care for a child with symptoms of Covid. 

Although it can be noted that all working parents are faced with these challenges in our world today, it should also be recognized that a large portion of the workforce has the option to “work from home” when such situations arise. Unfortunately, individuals who work in “caretaker” positions are not afforded this luxury, and thus, they should be given special consideration. 

Furthermore, the burden of an increased number of sick employees and employees who are caring for sick loved ones reaches our own colleagues still present at work. The variations in staffing and effect on patient care is felt from every position when employees are unable to be present at work. Thus, even our healthy colleagues are experiencing an unprecedented amount of stress and added responsibilities each day. 

Despite the concerns we have outlined here, we want the LMH Administration to know that we are optimistic in our solutions. It does not go unnoticed that the climate surrounding healthcare and insurance reimbursement is constantly and rapidly changing. We understand that this many times creates added financial strain to medical institutions nationwide, and LMH is no exception. However, LMH is an exceptional institution through its core beliefs: Patient First, Better Together, Listen/Speak Up, Own It/Solve It, and in Joy. Thus, we propose the following in accordance with retaining the highest quality team members and creating the healthiest and most productive workforce.

·         More time off accrued per hour of work

·         Sick days that reset each year

·         Paid holidays 

·         Work from home options

This proposal simply outlines the conversation we would like to initiate with the LMH Administration on realistic and accountable solutions for improving these issues. Attached, you will find a list of signatures indicating multiple staff members and members of our community who stand together in solidarity for developing creative solutions and making meaningful changes to current policy.