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Ashland�s hospital wins high ranking by employees Oregon Business magazine puts ACH as No. 3 to work for among large companies By Greg Stiles Like so many students cramming for a semester final, Ashland Community Hospital employees raced through a list of questions in January, then crossed their fingers. The grades for the hospital and employees were announced Friday by Oregon Business magazine. ACH ranked No. 3 among large firms � 250 or more employees � in Oregon Business� 100 Best Companies to work for. "What�s kind of fun is that this was our first time at it, and we didn�t think we�d make the top 100," says hospital administrator Jim Watson. "We thought everybody pays their dues, and we�d just get to know the system." Both the employer and employees are scored in nine categories: attraction/retention, organizational communication, working environment, decision making and supervision, performance management, rewards and recognition, employee benefits, career development and leadership. Ashland Community Hospital compiled a 77.61 score. Cintas Corp., a Portland-based uniform rentals and facility supplies firm, was No. 1 at 79.02, while AT&T Wireless was No. 2 at 78.23. "We had very little time once we decided to complete the applications � it was the absolute 11th hour," Watson says. About two-thirds of the hospital�s employees filled out extensive questionnaires in a three-day period. ACH ranked No. 1 in working environment and employee benefits and was in the top five for organizational communication and leadership. "My sense is that the vast majority of employees who work here enjoy being around the people they work with," Watson says. "I think of us as a small business despite our size. We�re still small enough that people get to know each other. They support each other and care about each other�s trials and tribulations here as well as elsewhere. We talk about the culture of caring and support that allows us to do a much better job of taking care of our customers." Watson credits human resources director Peggy Cockrell for creating a culture of caring and support for nearly a quarter of a century. Employee benefits range from highly touted health and vision offerings to a tax-deferred retirement program that receives 14 percent of ACH revenues. "We�ve made the commitment to invest heavily in people and we have a tradition of sharing with employees any financial gain we might gain at the end of the year," says Watson, who has led the hospital for more than 14 years. The 95-year-old hospital, now at its third location at 280 Maple St., also provides interest-free loans for computers and grants for education to its 370 full- and part-time employees. In separate published reports, two of the magazine�s judges named ACH as their top company. Other Southern Oregon large companies in the top 50 were Rogue Valley Manor, ranked 18th (72.23); Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ranked 27th (70.62); Asante Health System, ranked 35th (70.01); Umpqua Bank, ranked 39th (69.54); and Lithia Motors of Medford, ranked 43rd. In the small company class, Beaverton-based Employment Trends, a staffing services and professional recruitment firm, weighed in as No. 1 at 81.81. Southern Oregon companies in this class included Insurance Marketplace Inc., of Medford, ranked 17th (76.39); Professional Tool Manufacturing LLC of Ashland, ranked 22nd (75.56); and Darex Corp. of Ashland, ranked 24th (75.50). Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2002 Mail Tribune, Inc.