At Vera, our values are our cultural compass. They're reminders of who we aspire to be as a collective - our company. It's easy to get bogged down in day-to-day work, which is why we try our best to lift our heads when we can, and appreciate the people around us. What are those values?
Currently we find ourselves in a time of crisis. We are struggling through this, but we are resilient. As healthcare providers, we are considered an essential business, providing an essential service. Love those we serve is a core value we are all practicing — or aspiring to practice every day and every minute. All of us at Vera have personal lives that we are trying to navigate and are worried about the health of our family members. We are working to manage our patient population, as well as juggling all the rest of the things on our plates.
In times like these, the most helpful thing is for us to look to our values to guide us forward. How can we continue to deliver on our values to our employees, to our patients, and to our clients? And how can we be really mindful of how we show up for each other, especially knowing we all have heightened emotions right now? We're all in it together, in different ways and in different roles. As one of our Vera whole health coaches recently remarked:
"Our team character has really shown up with this wild COVID-19 ride. We do good and do well together as a connected team. We love those we serve by also loving each other.”
– Cathy Moore, Vera Whole Health Coach at 5th Avenue Care Center in Seattle, WA
While it’s true that people are stressed right now and things feel pretty crazy, at the same time, the tenets of Vera's culture and the way that we have always conducted ourselves with each other and in the world provides us with a really good foundation for a time like this. We are already in the practice of asking the question: How can we care for one another? How can we hold each other in positive regard? How can we approach any situation from a nimble, flexible, and adaptive standpoint?
We want to allow our team the space to be creative (while being able to provide structure and framework, because we all know we have guidelines and regulations we have to follow). We want to allow innovation and collaboration to shine through in a time where it's really necessary.
Since we’re experiencing a pretty extraordinary situation right now, we’ve made practical changes to support our teams — both clinical and support — through all of this:
Our goal is to really understand what's happening and then work to meet our people where they're at. Our question to ourselves every day is what are our employees’ real needs outside of caring for themselves and caring for their patients? And how can we support them and ensure that they have the support necessary to get through this?
These pivots are new, but they aren’t surprising. They’re what make me proud to work for Vera and demonstrate how we show up, even when times are tough. What we are reiterating and demonstrating, to our employees, to potential candidates, is that they are the most important. We are here to support them at all times, but particularly during this crisis.