These Healthcare Companies Are Tops in Employee Perks

Each year, Fortune magazine ranks the “Top 100 Best Companies to Work For,” based on corporate benefits, perks, and how well they treat their employees. For 2011, 16 healthcare companies made the list, most of them large hospital and healthcare systems. But pharmaceuticals and biotech companies made this year’s list, as well as one medical-device maker.

What made these companies tops? Great benefits, thoughtful corporate perks, and commitment to their communities were among the many reasons employees said they enjoyed working for these employers.

And they’re not just great places to work -- five of the healthcare companies that made the list boasted some of the highest average salaries. For example, at Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Co., the U.S. arm of Japan’s Takeda, average total pay was $166,354 for a senior oncology sales specialist, while a diabetes care specialist at Novo Nordisk in Princeton, N.J., earns an average of $12,939. At Scripps Health in San Diego, registered nurses earned an average of about $90,000, plus more than $22,000 in added compensation. At Everett Clinic, a physician-owned healthcare system based in Everett, Wash., nurse practitioners make an average salary of $118,500, while managers at Atlantic Health in Morristown, N.J., bring home an average of $114,868.

So which healthcare companies made Fortune's list of the Top 100 Employers? Here’s the rundown:

The Methodist Hospital System, Houston, Tex.

Rank: 19 (Previous rank: 17)

Why did it make the list? Employees like working here — so much so that 17% of employees have worked for the employer more than 15 years, according to Fortune.

CHG Healthcare Services, Salt Lake City, Utah

Rank: 27 (Previous rank: 26)

Why did it make the list? This healthcare recruiting company is one of the few in the region that offers domestic-partner benefits.

Genetech, South San Francisco, Calif.

Rank: 35 (Previous rank: 19)

Why did it make the list? The biotech giant held a “Genentech Gives Back Week” last June that lasted over six days and raised $200,000 for 110 charities. The company also brought in entertainment by The Fray and Counting Crows, Fortune reported.

Southern Ohio Medical Center, Portsmouth, Ohio

Rank: 36 (Previous rank: 63)

Why did it make the list? This 104-year-old hospital turned “National Nurses Week” into a community-service event, collecting funds for a local charity, Fortune said.

Scripps Health, San Diego, Calif.

Rank: 37 (Previous rank: 40)

Why did it make the list? In a word: Training. In 2010, Scripps invested $30 million in training and employee-development initiatives, according to Fortune.

Novo Nordisk, Princeton, N.J.

Rank: 47 (Previous rank: 25)

Why did it make the list? The Danish drug company’s benefits include fertility treatments, and gives new adoptive parents 30 days of paid leave and $5,000 in adoption aid. Newlyweds are also given three days off.

Atlantic Health, Morristown, N.J.

Rank: 54 (Previous rank: 81)

Why did it make the list? Pay is generous and both of its hospitals have on-site day care for workers children and grandchildren.

Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Co., Cambridge, Mass.

Rank: 56 (Previous rank: N.A.)

Why did it make the list? The U.S. arm of Japan's Takeda has some of the most generous perks on the list, including concierge service, on-site dry cleaning, a tuition benefit up to $10,000 a year, pet insurance subsidies, and unlimited sick-pay. Everyone gets three weeks' vacation -- plus a week off between Christmas and New Year's, Fortune reports.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.

Rank: 60 (Previous rank: 74)

Why did it make the list? This pediatric health center offers benefits that include adoption and fertility treatment coverage, along with a $1,040-a-year child-care subsidy, according to Fortune.

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Rank: 61 (Previous rank: 55)

Why did it make the list? Doctors at this world-renowned facility use their own vacation time, days off, nights, or weekends to care for patients in underserved communities locally and abroad, Fortune says.

Ohio Health, Columbus, Ohio

Rank: 62 (Previous rank: 46)

Why did it make the list? Benefits at this hospital system include free concierge service, health insurance for part-time workers, and 10 days of paid paternity leave.

Stryker, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Rank: 68 (Previous rank: N.A.)

Why did it make the list? Training and continuing education is one of the reasons this medical-device maker joined the list this year. It recently retrained every employee in pursuit of quality service and high product standards, according to CNN.

Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, Ark.

Rank: 75 (Previous rank: 85)

Why did it make the list? Employees have on-site child care, a 20,000- square-foot gym, and — one of the more rare retirement benefits these days -- a defined-benefit pension plan.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis., Tenn.

Rank: 80 (Previous rank: N.A.)

Why did it make the list? Some of the perks of working at this pediatric healthcare giant is organic vegetables from an on-site garden, and up to $3,600 in tuition reimbursement.

Meridian Health, Neptune, N.J.

Rank: 88 (Previous rank: 79)

Why did it make the list? This network of hospitals and healthcare service providers have low employee turnover and an on-site concierge service, Fortune says.

The Everett Clinic, Everett, Wash.

Rank: 91 (Previous rank: N.A.)

Why did it make the list? Employees get 100% coverage of their health insurance premiums and profit sharing of up to 5% of pay, Fortune reports.