In recognition of the tireless dedication the KHMH staff shows to patients, the hospital's Board and Management unveiled a brand new staff group health insurance plan earlier this week.
It wasn't easy and only came after months of negotiation with all parties.
Shantel Neal spoke with CEO Chandra Cansino, who emphasized that this extensive coverage will provide peace of mind for our employees and their families.
Chandra Cansino, CEO, KHMH
"We officially launched our health insurance group plan for staff. Karl Heusner Memorial staff works very hard, and they deserve all the benefits they can possibly get. And the board and management has been lobbying for this for years."
"I could probably go back and say 10 years that I've been able to find evidence of this discussion being had in regards to health insurance for staff. And so this particular board, well, since I came here in 2021, have been very adamant about providing this for the staff, this benefit for staff."
"And after several years, I have to say, of negotiating with the insurance companies and going back and forth, we finally arrived at the position that we are in today. The benefits include, well, health, accident, and medical. They include vision, they include dental, and they actually have a life insurance option. And the option included life insurance as well. So it's a very comprehensive package. We have two options. One is for a million -dollar coverage, and the other is for half a million. And the staff chose whichever one they wanted. That's based on how much they were willing to pay, because they pay 50%. And then Karl Heusner pays the other 50%."
"Many of our staff have been here for many years. And so they know the history of trying to come to this. Our staff do get some benefits from being staff of KHMH, which would be like regular hospital benefits."
"And so an insurance package like this would help them to receive care that they maybe cannot get here for the children, their children to get for those who choose to add their dependents. We have a lot of cancers that, for some reason, are proliferating right now, and not all of them we cover here for chemotherapy."
"Those costs are not 100% covered here for staff either. So the health insurance will give them that peace of mind that regardless of what happens in the future, they would be able to take care of themselves and their loved ones."
Cansino acknowledged that crafting the plan wasn't simple because of the wide range of options offered to staff to find the perfect health insurance coverage.
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