Pipeline Health Chief Human Resources Officer Lisa Guzman (center) visits with Susan Szarnyasi, RN, (left) and Mary Jane Sales, director of med-surg/telemetry, (right) at East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital.
Since joining Pipeline Health two months ago, Chief Human Resources Officer Lisa Guzman has hit the ground running. She has visited the Los Angeles-based hospitals, engaging with employees and leadership in a variety of topics and important new projects.
Guzman has more than 40 years of diverse Human Resources experience and expertise including organizational development, strategic recruitment and retention, employee engagement, compensation planning, benefits design and more. She previously served as Vice President for Human Resources at Redlands Community Hospital (2016-2023). Prior to that, she served in leadership roles at several California hospitals.
Guzman recently took some time to answer a few questions posed by Pulse.
With eight weeks on the job, what are your impressions of our Pipeline Health employees?
I find our employees to be very friendly, highly committed to patient care and dedicated to their facilities. I continually hear employees tell me that they are passionate about serving the communities around our hospitals, which is inspiring and meaningful.
What are the priority projects that you have undertaken so far?
Our HR team has a keen focus on employee relations. I’ve been reviewing the Mining for Gold employee survey data, working to understand more about what employees want most in their work environment, wages, and benefits.
Another key project is to enhance our recruitment efforts, using available technology to inform candidates about our hospitals, our culture, and the opportunities we have available. In addition, we are planning virtual job fairs and sourcing candidates through multiple recruitment websites. The ability to hire staff is important to stabilize our workforce, ensure adequate staffing for all shifts, and reduce our dependence on contract labor.
We’re also working toward enhanced retention of our employees, which includes a market analysis to ensure our wages are competitive. We value our employees — many of whom have worked for the organization for years — and they are key to our future success.
Will there be new opportunities for employee engagement in the months ahead?
In discussions with hospital leadership, we are looking at creating employee committees to help develop retention initiatives moving forward. It is important for us to listen to our frontline staff to hear their concerns and suggestions so that we can create and maintain a work environment where they will be successful.
6.21.2023