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KALAMAZOO — Bronson Healthcare is one of just three healthcare employers in the state to be recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women for 2023, according to a press release. Companies named by Newsweek have a proven track record for creating more equitable and favorable workplaces for women.

This is the third major employer recognition the Bronson Healthcare system has received in recent months. It is also on Forbes 2022 list of America’s Best-In-State Employers and is a recipient of the 2023 Apex Award from Training Magazine for excellence in employee training and development.

To select America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women, Newsweek identified the top 600 companies in the United States for women based on research, reputation monitoring and a survey of over 37,000 women working for companies that employ at least 1,000 people. The study collected more than 224,000 reviews across all industry sectors. Participants reviewed their current employer based on how likely they would be to recommend that employer and reviewed other companies they were familiar with, but not currently working for. 

The final evaluation and scoring were based on eight key categories:

• Company image
• Corporate culture
• Working environment
• Work-life balance
• Training and career progression
• Compensation and benefits
• Sustainability awareness
• Proactive management of the diverse workforce

Bronson Healthcare, with 8,800 employees, is southwest Michigan’s largest employer and leading health system. 79 percent of the employees in its workforce are women and a significant percentage of women serve in leadership roles. On the administrative side, 63 percent of Bronson’s executive team are women. In patient care, 44 percent of Bronson’s employed medical providers (physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and certified registered nurse anesthetists) are women.

 “We are very proud to learn we are ranked among the nation’s top employers for women,” said Bronson Chief People Officer Cheryl Johnson. “We strive to offer the career opportunities, training, support, resources, competitive pay and benefits that are important to women and their families so they can thrive at work and at home.”

 A few of the helpful ways Bronson supports working women are:

Opportunities to learn and grow

Bronson offers a variety of benefits to help employees grow within their career at Bronson. Some of the opportunities available to staff include tuition reimbursement, scholarship programs, in-house career advancement and personal wellness classes, and more.

Concierge services

To help improve work-life balance, Bronson has concierge staff on-site who help shorten employees’ personal to-do lists. In the past year, the concierge has completed 12,836 errands, saving Bronson employees a total of 11,250 hours. Some of the tasks Bronson’s concierge can help with include grocery shopping, package shipping, dry cleaning/laundry services and more.

 Remote/hybrid work, where appropriate

The pandemic changed the way many Americans work. To stay competitive with the market, Bronson has allowed for flexibility in where employees work. For employees in non-clinical, non-patient facing roles (i.e. finance, human resources and IT) employees may work from home or wherever convenient, eliminating the commute and improving work-life balance.

Support for working parents

• The cost of childcare can be a burden on many families. Bronson partners with Southwest Childcare Resources to offer employees a Tri-Share Childcare plan. The program splits childcare costs equally between parents, the state of Michigan and Bronson. Additionally, Bronson partners with the YWCA of Kalamazoo to offer emergent, back-up childcare services. This 24-hour service offers employees an affordable drop-in childcare option for those times when the primary daycare provider is unavailable.

• In 2022, Bronson expanded benefits for employees who need infertility care. Employees and their covered spouse have access to $10,000 each that can be used toward the diagnosis and treatment of infertility.