The work we do daily is about creating hope and inspiration for the families we serve and for one another. It takes special people to deliver pediatric care. Our mission attracts likeminded people to our organization and our values of CREATE, Collaboration, Responsibility, Empowerment, Advocacy, Transformation and Empathy, guide us in how we carry out our mission, every day. Every employee is provided a comprehensive program about the Nicklaus Children’s values during our iCREATE Way culture sessions and these values are embedded into our performance metrics, accounting for 50% of each employees evaluation rating. To be successful at Nicklaus Children’s, every doctor, nurse and staff member must embrace our values of CREATE and be willing to advocate for our patients, families and one another, while continually evolving and exploring new ways to deliver excellence while providing exceptional care in an ever-changing world.

Our CEO, Matthew A. Love, exemplifies Nicklaus Children’s values every single day. Since taking over as CEO in late 2019, Matthew rebuilt the foundation of Nicklaus Children’s mission and vision by focusing on the fundamentals of healthcare – putting patients and families first. This means collaborating in ways that create efficiencies for the system while consistently delivering amazing patient care and patient experience to every patient, every time. One example of his continued exemplary modeling of our CREATE values was earlier this year when he participated in our Emergency Department theme days, decking himself out in a Hawaiian shirt to participate in the festivities. It is often no surprise to find him participating in theme days and special events side by side with all employees to enhance the overall patient experiences. He puts the responsibility of caring and advocating for patients in the hands of every employee and empowers them to deliver transformational care with empathy and compassion. In return, he does the same not only for patients and families but also for each staff member. Through monthly Chat with Matt sessions, open forums like town halls and rounding, Matthew stays in contact with employees, patients and families as often as possible. He listens, delivers on his promises and motivates us to create a healthy future for every child.

A key pillar of the organizational strategic plan, Focus On Us, places an intentional emphasis on the value of the human side of business in our day-to-day operations. It demonstrates our dedication to cultivating a culture of communication, transparency and trust. CEO Matthew Love holds small group “Chats with Matt” to provide employees a more intimate opportunity to share ideas and thoughts with him in addition to his quarterly CEO forums and monthly CEO video updates. He can also often be found, along with the rest of our executive team, doing purposeful rounds on the floor to interact with teams and works towards improvements that benefit the employee experience. Annual employee engagement surveys are also key in guiding operational action plans to improve culture and work environment. Departments are empowered to hold daily and weekly huddles. Additionally, shared governance models are key to our nursing operations and patient care. All employees have a voice and are engaged in actively improving patient care, operational processes, and clinical quality and safety.

By keeping our patients at the center of every decision we make, our employees remain focused on teamwork – always with a shared purpose and vision. From shared governance models in Nursing to employee run committees that focus on patient care, quality and safety, employee engagement, patient experience and more, our operating model is designed to embed the concept of Empowerment as our team members to work together to innovate. An example of this is our new rapid cycle process improvement initiative, focused on specific organizational priorities that not only streamline operations but also improve the employee and patient experience and helped save our nonprofit organization more than $33 million. The initiative continues to galvanize cross functional teams by encouraging collaboration and camaraderie. Projected efficiencies and savings this year will more than double last year’s achievements. We also reinforce the concept of collaboration through our Success Sharing program where organizational metrics are tracked throughout the year to ensure all are working towards the same common vision and mission. This past year, Nicklaus Children’s celebrated a record performance year as a result of all collaborative efforts across the organization.

We understand the importance being compensated fairly is to creating a just workplace culture for all our employees. Consistent with our commitment to transparency, each employee receives a Total Rewards Compensation Statement to help them understand their full earnings and future potential. Additionally, we have a cyclical process that reviews every single employee’s compensation against the market every three years to ensure market competitiveness along with yearly merit increases tied to performance (3% average with an increase to 4% planned for 2024). Nicklaus Children’s has also taken steps to support employees’ financial wellbeing including raising our minimum wage to $15.05 per hour – four dollars more per hour than current state requirements and four years ahead of the Florida mandate, with an increase to $16.25 in 2024. Furthermore, our Success Sharing program provides employee incentives when all metrics are met because when Nicklaus Children’s wins, every member of our family wins – in 2023 this resulted in an investment of over $8 million in bonuses to all our active employees. Additionally, Nicklaus Children’s also provides special bonuses to celebrate the years of commitment and dedication shown by our employees. In 2023 over $650,000 was paid out in recognition of over 500 employees, representing a collective 6,700 years of service. Celebrating these, as well as other key milestones is an essential part of what makes our benefits, bonus and compensation structure unique.