The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has awarded Holland Home a $3.5 Million grant to attract and retain more staff. Like many providers, Holland Home has struggled to meet its growing staffing needs over the last few years. With this grant, the senior living organization hopes to create “a stable pipeline of critical caregiving staff.”
"I think our organization’s traditionally old-school,” Himmelein said. “I think that’s something we can work on to attract a younger workforce. We need to grow our own and keep them."
Holland Home will distribute funds among three skilled nursing facilities: Raybrook Manor, Breton Rehabilitation & Living Centre, and Edison Christian, which employ over 540 caregiving and support staff.
While Holland Home’s turnover rate is lower than the national average, Doug Himmelein, Holland Home Executive Vice President of Operations & Human and Resources, says, “Unfortunately, we’ve observed steady degradation in our staff’s ability to continue to overcome many of the personal barriers they experience each day in attempting to fulfill their obligations to the organization.”
With this grant, Holland Home hopes to help employees overcome some of those day-to-day barriers and are looking into solutions with daycare, transportation, and uniforms. Other funds will go towards recruitment advertising and marketing to attract new talent.
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