Standing between Connecticut’s two major health care systems — Hartford HealthCare and Yale New Haven Health — independent Middlesex Health boasts something it doesn’t need size to have.
“We’ve spent a lot of organizational time and effort trying to create a culture that attracts good people,” said CEO Vincent Capece.
“Our goal is to attract the brightest and the best — not only attract, but retain the brightest and the best people, and whether that is physicians, nurses or even non-clinical people at all levels, in all departments, every job is important,” he said.
Middlesex Health is composed of almost 2,900 of those people, working in its flagship 275-bed Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, two satellite medical centers, each with emergency departments, in Westbrook and Marlborough, and a network of primary care and specialist physicians.
And this year, for the eighth year in a row, Middlesex Health has been named a Hartford Courant Top Workplace, in the large category. It’s also ranked nationally in the category of 2,500 employees and above.
Top Workplaces are ranked based on surveys of employees at participating organizations with at least 50 employees in Hartford, Middlesex, New London, Tolland and Windham counties.
Capece, CEO for 14 years, said Middlesex’s employees are “very much a family here, and I think that that is something that appeals to a lot of people. And I think that not only is it family, we also I think have a culture that is always looking to excel.
“And I think people who like to do good things, like to advance their careers and advance their professionalism, are attracted to a culture where the organization is recognized for doing good things,” he said.
One of the recognitions Capece and others are most proud of is Middlesex Hospital’s sixth designation as a Magnet Recognition hospital from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
“A very small percentage of the hospitals have that designation,” he said. “We were the first in Connecticut, and we’re the first hospital in Connecticut to achieve that, and we were the first community hospital in the entire country to achieve that.”
Credentialing, which involves “a whole rigorous process,” must be repeated every four years, Capece said.
“We just went through last November our sixth credentialing process and were successful, and there are only a handful of hospitals in the entire world that have gone through that process that many times and been successful,” he said.
“I think that, in general, we have a reputation for safety, quality. We provide a wide range of services, medical services, surgical services,” he said. “Our cancer program is, from a quality perspective, one of the best cancer centers in the country.”
Middlesex also is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, the only affiliate in the Northeast with the world-renowned health care system based in Rochester, Minn.
“They’ve created this care network of high-performing health systems that they’ve hand picked to work with to advance health care throughout the world,” Capece said. “And we’ve been working with them on a variety of issues to advance health care, and they have lots of knowledge to share, but they’re also looking to learn from their affiliates too.”
Besides adding “some luster to our brand,” and encouraging consultations between doctors, the network has “allowed our patients to have access to Mayo doctors through what we call e-consults,” Capece said. “That’s something that’s very unique and I think a reflection of the quality of care that we provide, that the Mayo Clinic would want to partner with us.”
Mayo doctors often offer second opinions, especially when it comes to cancer care, he said.
“It’s kind of standard that if you’re diagnosed with cancer, you want to get a second opinion,” he said. “And in the past, people would have to travel to Boston, New York, and it would cost them money to do that.”
Beyond the high-profile recognitions and affiliations, however, Capece said what’s important at Middlesex is basic.
“Our mission is all about safety, quality and the patient experience,” he said. “Those are the three things that we focus on, and the DNA of this organization, long before I got here, was really focused on striving for excellence. It’s something that is ingrained in the culture here, and has been for a long time.”
Capece also talked about the “three legs of the stool” that are critical to an organization’s success.
“The board, the medical staff and the management team working together is critical with a hospital,” he said. “It’s critical to the success of the organization, and I think that’s worked well for us for a long time, and I can’t personally take credit for that. It’s really the result of the hard work of a lot of people.”
He said he’s not surprised, then, that Middlesex has again been recognized as a Top Workplace.
“I think it’s well deserved, and it’s really a reflection of what our employees are saying about the organization, and it is encouraging to know that the work that we’re putting into creating a culture that attracts and retains good people, great people, is being recognized by our employees,” he said.
Among the things he’s seen changed over his 26 years with the organization has been how different generations view their jobs.
“We’ve tried to appeal to all of the different generations that are out there that all have a different way of thinking about how they balance their life: their work life and their family life, their personal life,” he said. “And we’ve tried to find a way to be flexible, to appeal to the needs of our employees, recognizing that there are some things that we can do. There’s some things that we can’t do, but we’re trying to be open to different ideas.”
Among those ideas have been different schedules, especially for those in clinical departments, and, since the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing people to work from home more often.
“I guess that the bottom line is, we’re a very flexible organization in an effort to be employee-centric and to be focused on what our employees need and want,” he said.
Capece said Middlesex has a good reputation in central Connecticut as well.
“When we’ve done focus studies to try to get a sense as to how the community perceives us, our community really recognizes the organization being very warm and caring and having high-quality care,” he said. “So I believe we’re hitting the marks. And we spent a lot of time trying to communicate that to our community, and I think it has resonated over time.”
Capece said Middlesex Health also has been recognized as LBGTQ-friendly, both for employees and patients, by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
“I think one of the things that we’re very focused on is being inclusive of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, regardless of their race, regardless of their religion, and that’s something that has been part of this organization for a long time,” he said.
Another initiative is Project SEARCH, partnering with Marc Community Resources, in which adults with disabilities volunteer at the hospital.
“It’s a program that provides them work experience that allows them to learn a job skill that’s transferable, and many of these students we end up hiring,” Capece said. “And it’s really been great to see them excel and kind of blossom while they’re here, and it’s touched the organization in a special way.”
Darrell Pataska, chairman of Middlesex’s board, also mentioned the culture of the organization “from the top on down. Everybody works together. People enjoy what they’re doing. There’s rewards that come with that. They’re proud of the organization.”
Pataska said he talks to volunteers, known as patient advocates, one of whom is his wife, who visit patients and ask how they are and whether there’s anything they can help with.
“They continually say they’re just impressed with how well the employees at all levels work together, whether it’s the environmental people, the person cleaning the floor, or the doctor that’s seeing the patient, and the nurses and everybody in between are all working as a team,” he said.
Pataska said Middlesex enjoys its position of being a standalone hospital and is in a good financial position as well.
“Middlesex is well financed. It’s got a strong balance sheet,” he said. “It’s got great focus on customer service, which keeps everything going. … I think, as a community hospital … it can provide the hands-on service of a small organization, yet all of the skills of a large organization,” partly because of its Mayo Clinic affiliation.
Pataska said being independent has advantages over large health care systems with multiple hospitals.
“We call our own shots, we put together our own playbook,” he said. “We’re not listening to somebody else saying, Oh no, we don’t want to do that in Middletown. We want to do that in Stamford, or we want to do that in Norwich. … We can make our own decisions and do our own things.”
Pataska called Capece “the essential piece of the organization. The culture comes from the top. He is a hands-on person.”
Pataska said when he’s done rounds at the hospital and talked to patients, “the thing that sticks out is where people are so happy with everything. I mean, here’s people that are in the hospital. That’s not like you’re on vacation, yet they will say that they’re having a great experience, from the standpoint of being impressed by the people that are waiting on them. And they use that term, ‘waiting on them.’”
Another board member, Jean D’Aquila, has served more than a decade.
“From my perspective, this is a place of respect and joy,” she said. “It’s palpable. … I feel it when I attend board meetings. I feel it when I attend employee events. I feel it when my family has been in Middlesex Health for health care.
“The staff are concerned,” she said. “They work together. They check their egos at the door, if you will, and they work as a team. And I can’t be more proud of this organization. It’s led by a wonderful CEO and a wonderful executive leadership team. They care, and that trickles down.”
D’Aquila said she went to a celebration of the hospital’s Magnet designation and talked to several nurses.
“They were so thrilled and happy and talkative and generous with their time, and there was a spirit of cooperation there,” she said. “It’s an incredible group, and it’s led by a wonderful chief nursing officer … and they’re very conscious about the morale and the collegiality and the work with the physicians, so that you don’t have the feeling that they’re competing with each other. … It’s kind of amazing.”
D’Aquila called Capece “one of the most capable, humble guys that I’ve ever met, and those two things don’t often go together. He supports his executive leadership team, he supports the board. He supports initiatives that are proposed within the health care system, if they’re good plans. He’s pretty committed. I’m very proud to serve with him.”
Ed Stannard can be reached at estannard@courant.com.