Being a caring organization is really the foundation for Closing the Gap. The organization was founded to make a difference in the lives of both patients and staff. Within the organization, we provide many formal and informal supports to ensure that we uphold a compassionate, collaborative and caring work environment.

Everyone at Closing the Gap has different backgrounds and different reasons for being here. This diversity brings an array of valuable perspectives that we incorporate in all aspects of operations and policy that are directly related to patient care, including multicultural competence. Incorporating employee perspectives is also important to ensure everyone is singing from the same song sheet and involved in deciding how we work within the organization.

We believe in looking at the individual employee and tailoring our support to their specific needs. A blanket, one-size-fits-all solution would leave large gaps when dealing with an employee who has suddenly become a widow or whose partner has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, for example. Instead, we work with our employees to make sure they get the right care they need to support them through their difficult journey. For example, we negotiated to ensure employees with a terminal illness can access life insurance when they decide, and we provide our informal caregivers with flexible schedules to ensure they don’t have to use their sick time for caregiving purposes.

This all stems from having an open door policy where employees can ask for the support they need. Compassion doesn’t cost money.

-Connie Clerici, Executive Chair of the Board, Closing the Gap