Beating turnover with compassion in hospice care, Paradigm Health shines as a Top Workplace

Michael Schroeder
Special to IndyStar

Kathleen Visker, a nurse case manager at Paradigm Health, said she got into hospice work after watching others take care of her dad in the same setting. Visker – who was an ER nurse – said she wanted to provide the same kind of end-of-life support for others as her dad and family received.

“I vowed to be the best hospice nurse I could be in order to honor his life,” said Visker, who joined Paradigm a year ago. Like others who work there, she focuses on providing peace, comfort and easing pain for her patients. “I’m a personal believer that (the) end of life should be celebrated just as much as the beginning of life.

See all the winners:Here are your 2022 Top Workplaces winners in Central Indiana

That mission focus is a powerful driver for employees at Paradigm Health, which received its second nod as a Top Workplace, and a special award this year for managers.

Senior leadership makes sure standards are met while listening to employees’ thoughts, ideas and concerns to improve the organization, said Catherine Mangrum, certified nursing assistant team lead and clinical coordinator assistant team lead, who has been with the organization for five years.

Surveyed employees at Paradigm Health describe a friendly, home-like environment, where they feel valued and are able to connect. Paradigm Health was named a Top Workplace in the Indianapolis Star’s annual survey of Central Indiana workplaces.

“Everybody’s voice and everybody’s opinion matters,” she said.

Hospice care can be difficult work, which can make turnover an issue in the industry.

That’s something Bryan Smith, hospice chaplain for Paradigm Health, said he encountered at other companies, but not at Paradigm. He describes a positive, supportive culture at the organization, and he sees his employer as an exemplar in local hospice care. “I would not go anywhere else at this point in my career,” Smith said.

Surveyed employees at Paradigm describe a friendly, home-like environment, where they feel valued and are able to connect and have fun together. Nurses and others who work directly with patients and their families say they’re able to carry that positivity into the care they provide as they seek to alleviate suffering and fear at the end of life.

Whether she’s providing hospice care to patients in their home or a facility – wherever she is in the field – Visker says she has a team behind her that she can call if she has a question or faces a new challenge. “You never feel alone. There is always someone” to help, she said.

Bottom Line

  • Founded: 2013
  • Central Indiana locations: 1
  • Description: Hospice and palliative care provider
  • Employees in Central Indiana: 176

Michael Schroeder is a local freelance consumer journalist.