Message from the CEO | Stephen A. Sheridan

For this issue, I was asked to consider the impact people have on our organization. It was a series of projects that crossed my desk that reminded me of our staff and their exceptional level of dedication to the families who look to UCP for services.

Recently, UCP surveyed its employees on job satisfaction and ways the organization can improve. One question asked them to identify the part of their job they enjoy the most. I was overwhelmed by the number of staff who responded that working with clients and their families and being a part of UCP’s mission was the most important part of their job.

Coincidentally, while this survey was underway, the UCP Board Development Committee was evaluating the future course of fundraising given the hard economic times and the shortfall in donations. During this exercise, they considered various aspects of the organization having the most value to the community and deserving of its support. Once again, the sensitivity and commitment of staff at UCP was a repeated response.

For me, the obvious value of staff raises the
question of how to maintain this priceless resource.

Employing over 350 people, UCP offers a benefits package that includes healthcare. Like all businesses and organizations out there, UCP is struggling with rising healthcare costs and trying to maintain the level of benefits available to our staff—people so clearly at the core of who we are as an organization.

Last year UCP’s employee healthcare insurance increased over 30%. This year (2010), health insurance companies requested a premium increase of 30% of the previous year’s rate. In the prior year (2009) the requested increase was pegged at 18%, so in two years the increase in health insurance proposed for UCP amounted to an incredible 48%.
In the context of decreasing revenues from
donations and stagnant government contracts, these numbers raise serious concern.

UCP, by itself, is but a small cog in a big wheel in the service provision sector. However, the issues that impact UCP mirror our nation’s health care crisis. Let’s hope we can find a way out of this dilemna so that quality care remains available for all.