Congressman Steve Russell (R-OK-5th district) recently visited Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma (DLO) in Oklahoma City. He took a tour of the lab and sat down with Dennis Hogle, DLO’s CEO and General Manager, to discuss a number of challenges and topics facing our industry.
An Oklahoma native, Rep. Russell served in the U.S. Army for 21 years, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was first elected to Congress in 2014 and is a member of the House Republican Steering Committee; House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform (Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on National Security) and House Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Russell was greeted by the DLO leadership team during his recent visit to the lab. Shown here are (left to right) Executive Sales Director Jeff McCown, Hogle, Rep. Russell, Chief Financial Officer Leo Sell, and Chief Operations Officer Kim Holloway.
The Journal Record announced today that 40 Oklahoma companies have made the list for the 2017 Best Places to Work in Oklahoma program, which identifies and honors the state’s best employers. This is the 12th consecutive year Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma (DLO) has been selected as a finalist for this annual award. The company ranked fourth overall in 2016 in the large company category.
“This recognition is a true indication of the professionalism, collaboration and dedication of the DLO staff that is deeply embedded in the culture and has been for more than 12 years. I could not be more honored than to have the chance to work with such an amazing group of Oklahomans who truly pride themselves on providing the highest levels of service and quality to improve the health and well-being of the residents of Oklahoma" said Dennis Hogle, DLO’s Chief Executive Officer.
Best Companies Group selects and ranks the competition entrants by collecting and analyzing data from both employer questionnaires and employee surveys to determine which companies have the best practices.
All 40 companies will receive the results of their surveys, which reveal their workplace strengths and weaknesses. Categories studied include: Leadership and Planning, Corporate Culture and Communications, Role Satisfaction, Work Environment and Relationship with Supervisor.
“The top companies have a lot of employees – 90 to 95 percent – who say they like the work, understand their role in the company, and feel as though they have enough autonomy to do the job in the best possible way. Those top companies also offered good benefits and demanded little or no overtime from their workers,” said Ted Streuli, associate publisher and editor for The Journal Record.
Nominees are divided into two categories – small/medium companies who employ between 25 and 249 U.S. employees and large companies that employ 250 or more people in the United States. The Journal Record will announce the top three winners in each category during the awards luncheon to be held on September 28, 2017, in Oklahoma City.
Nominees in the small/medium category are:
Allegiance Credit Union
BIS
Cory’s Audio Visual
Delta Dental of Oklahoma
Foundation Medical Staffing
Great Plains Technology Center
Industrial Controls of Oklahoma LLC
InterWorks
Mercury Network
Nextep Inc.
Northwest Technology Center
Oklahoma City Indian Clinic
Phase 2
Phillips Murrah P.C.
Polston Tax Resolution & Accounting
Public Strategies Inc.
Regent Bank
REI Oklahoma
Republic Bank & Trust
Sunbeam Family Services
TBS Factoring Service LLC
Tulsa Tube Bending
Vox Printing
Wymer Brownlee
Nominees in the large employer category are:
180 Medical
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Burns & McDonnell
Capital One Auto Finance
CompSource Mutual Insurance Co.
Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma
Edward Jones
Eide Bailly LLP
Express Employment Professionals
First Fidelity Bank
First United Bank
Guardian Security Systems Inc.
Insurica
JE Dunn Construction Co.
Mars Pet Care
Safelite AutoGlass
Through a variety of fundraising efforts, the employees of Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma (DLO) provided 310 food baskets and 213 turkeys to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) to feed families for Thanksgiving this year.
"The employees of DLO have partnered with DHS for many years now to provide meals for families at Thanksgiving time,” said Jim McKissick, DLO’s chief people officer. “This is entirely an employee-driven inspiration and event. Our employees hold fund raising events at our facilities from bake sales, breakfasts, lunches, and craft sales to some highly creative funding activities. They have great fun and try to outdo each other each year to increase our support over the previous year.”
Through the employee fundraising efforts, DLO staff purchased much needed Thanksgiving foods such as canned goods, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and dessert items.
Just before going off to purchase the food basket items, DLO received a call from DHS with a plea for turkeys. A company that normally donates 175 turkeys to go along with DLO’s food baskets was unable to provide their usual donation. Since DLO’s fundraising was already allocated to purchase food basket items, Tabitha Guyton, DLO’s human resources associate generalist, and Tina Moore, DLO’s customer support manager, visited several Oklahoma City metro Walmart and Sam’s Club locations to ask for turkey donations. Through their efforts and the generosity of Walmart and Sam’s Club, DLO was able to supply 213 turkeys to go along with the 310 food baskets.
“Our employees understand how privileged we are and want to share with those in need,” McKissick said. “And although they do have fun, the most joy they have is when they see the mountain of food being loaded onto the trucks and headed out to feed more than 300 families who need and deserve a good meal during the Thanksgiving holiday season.”
For the third straight year, Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma (DLO) has been named to the top 100 list of “Best Places to Work in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare magazine. Jim McKissick, DLO’s chief people officer, accepted the award on behalf of the company at the gala event in New Orleans.
The magazine evaluates both healthcare providers and suppliers from around the United States through a rigorous process to determine their top 100 companies. DLO moved up five spots from 2015 landing at 29th in the overall rankings, while finishing 21st in the supplier category. DLO was the only Oklahoma company to be included in the list of healthcare suppliers.
“We are very honored by our accomplishments at DLO and it’s wonderful to be recognized as a best place to work,” said McKissick. “DLO has outstanding employees who are proud to serve the patients and providers of Oklahoma. We couldn’t achieve these accolades without their hard work and dedication to DLO.”
DLO was also recently named to the “Best Places to Work in Oklahoma” list for the 11th consecutive year by okc.BIZ magazine.
Finding the right candidates with the necessary skills and personality for health care positions can be a challenge. In order to improve recruiting and retention efforts, Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma (DLO) has connected with Rose State College in Midwest City, Okla., to expose students to job opportunities available with DLO through tours at its Core laboratory in Oklahoma City. Carlo Ledesma, a DLO lab supervisor who also serves as the medical laboratory technology program director at Rose State, arranged the tours to give students additional insight into the day-to-day operations of a laboratory.
“It is a win-win situation for both the Rose State students and DLO by providing the students the exposure to the laboratory operations and giving DLO the opportunity to sell our job opportunities and benefits programs that can be available to them upon graduation,” said Ledesma.
Providing lab tours is just one of a variety of strategies DLO has instituted to improve its recruitment of key technical positions, such as medical technologists, phlebotomists, and specimen processing staff. DLO recently hired its first ever medical technology training and education manager to help create a program to support current and future needs for skilled technical employees at its laboratories across the state.
Rachel Davidson has worked at DLO for more than 14 years, starting as a specimen processor in Microbiology in 2002. During her time, she has also been a medical technologist and group lead in Microbiology, and most recently was the quality assurance specialist for DLO. Davidson will assist Kim Holloway, DLO’s chief operations officer, and Human Resources in the development of a new recruiting and training program.
“I am excited to take on this new challenge to help Oklahoma’s leading diagnostic laboratory,” said Davidson. “DLO’s success is a direct result of the highly skilled staff and quality standards we achieve for the patients and physicians of Oklahoma.”
Davidson, along with DLO’s HR and Marketing departments, will review current job descriptions, produce digital and print media for recruitment events, increase social media and job site postings, and examine the current hiring process for technical positions. The group also plans to produce a series of videos to educate individuals who are considering a health care career on the various job duties and required characteristics needed to be successful.
“Evaluating all aspects of our recruitment and hiring process will enable DLO to employ the right people to serve our patients and providers, reduce turnover, and create a wonderful work environment for all employees,” said Davidson.
CLIA