It’s easy to get lost in the complexities of clinical outcomes and specialized medical technology. These are the visible engines of healing. But there’s an invisible essential that dictates the rhythm of every hospital: the environment itself.
As Chief Growth Officer at HHS, I’m often asked how we maintain scale without losing soul at the facilities we serve. The answer is simple but difficult to execute: We’ve stopped treating support services as a "back-of-house" commodity and started treating them as a front-line clinical necessity.
The Stewardship of Space
We’ve long understood a truth that the industry is only now beginning to quantify: a hospital’s reputation isn't built solely in the OR; it’s built in the hallways, patient rooms, and cafeterias.
When a patient enters a meticulously clean room, they might not even notice the lack of dust, but they will feel a sense of safety. When a team member greets them with a service mindset while delivering a meal, they don't just receive nutrition—they receive dignity. This isn't just "soft" sentiment, either. These are operational realities that directly correlate to HCAHPS scores and patient retention.
Moving Beyond the "Vendor" Mentality
To achieve this, we must, as an industry, outgrow the concept of "vendor." A vendor provides a commodity at the lowest price; a partner fulfills a shared mission.
When we talk about scaling and growth at HHS, we’re not just talking about adding new logos to our portfolio; the growth of our people is equally important, if not more important. If our operational teams don't feel like an integral part of the care team, the system fails. So we make a consistent effort to bridge the gap between "Growth" and "Operations" by ensuring our frontline team members know they aren't headcount—they’re healers.
The ROI of Servant Leadership
The "halo effect" of a well-run facility doesn't happen by accident. It happens through Servant Leadership. By providing our team members with the tools and respect they deserve, we create an environment where they want to go the extra mile. This, in turn, makes change management and growth much smoother and leads to a true partnership.
As we look toward the future of healthcare support, stop asking how we can do things "cheaper" and start asking how we can do things better for the people who do the work. Because when we take care of the people who take care of the building, the patients are the ones who truly heal.
