A Press Ganey consultant told the Hospital Authority Board that Nashville General Hospital's employee engagement score remained stable at 3.95 on a 5‑point scale and that about 70% of respondents reported they are engaged.

The survey, conducted in mid‑July through early August for employees and earlier in the spring for providers, returned an 80% response rate among employees and 41% among physicians, both figures the presenter called strong. "When folks respond that highly to a survey, that means they're bought into the process," said Keith Sobchak, Press Ganey workforce adviser.

The presentation placed the hospital near the 44th percentile against Press Ganey's national health care benchmark and showed high marks on purpose (96% favorable) and benefits satisfaction (74% favorable), with benefits scoring in the 79th percentile nationally. Leadership connection — Press Ganey's “leader index” — was reported as a strength, classified as a high leader index across most departments.

Nut graf: The consultant said the survey identifies both strengths the hospital can use for recruitment and retention — notably a mission‑driven workforce and strong local leadership — and targeted areas for improvement, primarily perceptions of safety culture and communication between departments.

Key findings and context
- Engagement: Overall engagement score 3.95 (flat year over year) with roughly 70% of respondents classified as engaged; 22% described themselves as neutral.
- Response rates: Employee response rate 80% (noted as above national average); physician response rate 41%.
- Strengths: High sense of purpose; benefits satisfaction; resilience measures improving (resiliency in the 61st percentile; ability to disconnect in the 57th percentile).
- Areas for focus: Perceptions of safety placed in lower quartiles of the benchmark; communication between departments lags despite year‑over‑year improvement in senior leadership communication (+0.34).

Sobchak emphasized that the survey identifies “key drivers” — the items that most influence engagement — and said safety was the top driver for Nashville General. He recommended leaders use segmented results (by tenure, department and generation) to target improvement plans, especially for employees in their first six to twelve months where retention risk is highest.

On the physician side, Press Ganey reported statistically significant year‑over‑year improvement in both engagement (+0.34) and alignment (+0.25) compared with the prior provider survey, though percentile ranks remain low relative to national physician benchmarks. "While we saw positive trends, there are clear signs of opportunity," Sobchak said.

Board context and next steps
Board members asked clarifying questions about benchmarks and respondent composition; Sobchak said the national benchmark includes all health care settings and that the AHA‑4 regional benchmark is a five‑state peer comparison. Board member Doctor Esquivel noted the employee survey timing (July–August) and that the provider survey was conducted earlier, in April, for context on changes over time.

Press Ganey recommended leader‑driven action planning, targeted support for struggling teams, and learning from high‑performing units. The presentation closed with recommended next steps available to department leaders through the Press Ganey platform for focused improvement planning.

Ending: The board received the presentation and discussed next reporting steps; hospital staff said they will present safety culture survey results at the next reporting period and that leaders will use the Press Ganey platform to build targeted action plans.