Employee ownership model working for Bridges Health

A business model that is common in the manufacturing and construction industries is helping an Oklahoma nursing home management company recruit and retain staff in a difficult environment.

Bridges Health – a skilled nursing and therapy facility management company with 2,500 employees at 37 sites across Oklahoma – shifted to an employee stock ownership plan in December 2020.

An ESOP is an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company in the form of shares of stock. There are about 6,500 of them in the U.S., according to the National Center for Employee Ownership.

NCEO reports 21% of companies in the manufacturing and professional/scientific/technical services sectors use the ESOP business model. The construction industry is next at 15%. But only 2% of health care/social assistance companies are employee-owed.

“It was new to me also. I hadn’t led a company that was 100% employee-owned,” said Bridges Health President and CEO Brett Coble, who quickly saw how employee ownership could benefit the long-term care industry.

“It’s an incredible structure for our business. We’re people caring for people,” Coble said. “Our employees deliver the direct care every day on the front lines.”

The ESOP Association website notes employee ownership enables employees to share in the wealth they help create. That can motivate employees, increase productivity, improve worker retention and contribute to business longevity.

“Our employees are very proud,” Coble said. “They are motivated to make the next best decision every time.”

Bridges Health employees pay nothing to participate in the program. Their shares are held in a trust and a company-funded stock contribution is made to their retirement plan each year. When they retire or resign, the company “buys back” the shares.

In a market where many health care providers are vying for the same limited number of workers, Bridges Health administrators see it as a great recruitment and retention tool.

“It’s a dangling carrot I use to bring people in. It’s a benefit they don’t pay anything for,” said Dawnn Wright, director of nursing at Kingwood Skilled Nursing & Therapy in Oklahoma City. “Our input determines the value.”

The growing aging population makes it that much more valuable, Wright said. “The stock goes up according to growth. Unless we run out of people, we don’t run out of protentional.”

Employees are fully vested in the plan after six years of employment. Leaving sooner means leaving money behind.

“That’s the retention piece,” said LeeAnna McNally, Bridges Health director of human resources and communications. “People really buy into it. They’ve taken a different look at changing jobs or retiring early.”

Coble thinks employee ownership also translates into a higher level of confidence among families who have loved ones in one of the Bridges facilities.

Wright tells them, “That’s why we take the pride in the facility that we do – because it’s ours.”

As seen in the Journal Record and written by Kathryn McNutt.