A Year of Wellbeing: A Q&A With Craig Rooney
Recognition
Wellbeing Champions
The Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation recently designated URMC as a Wellbeing First Champion, recognizing our commitment to ensuring that the more than 5,000 clinicians credentialed across URMC and its affiliates are not subjected to overly broad or invasive mental health questions during the credentialing process.
NAM Changemaker
The NAM (National Academy of Medicine) recently recognized URMC as a Change Maker for our “commitment to institutionalizing well-being as a long-term value.” This will provide enhanced opportunities for collaboration and the sharing of strategies and tactics with other Change Makers across the country.
Bold new programs. Better access to wellbeing resources. Expanded outreach across our institution. URMC’s inaugural Chief Wellbeing Officer (CWO), Craig Rooney, PhD, and his team have spearheaded all that and more since the Office of Wellbeing was created in February 2024. As we recognize Health Workforce Wellbeing Day March 18, Rooney reflects on his first year on the job and what he’s excited about in the future.
Q. One of your major goals has been to reach everyone at URMC. Why is that important, and how is it going?
A. We know these are very challenging times for our industry and for many individuals in our URMC community, so we want to make changes for everyone. That means making sure we help researchers, staff, and learners as well as clinicians, and we care deeply about doing that. This all-in approach sets our office and our initial programs apart. Of course, we know no single initiative will or can touch everyone at the medical center, but we believe the collective impact of our programs and the ground-up solutions they will generate will lead to concrete improvements across URMC. By nurturing a culture of wellbeing, we’ll ensure that it’s a robust consideration for every local and collective decision.
Q. Along with your own programming, you’ve been partnering closely with other offices and departments. Why is that important to you?
A. People here have been doing amazing work for years, and this is a wonderful chance to promote it, share ideas and bring people together. Beyond leading our own initiatives, our office ensures that wellbeing has a voice in key conversations. Happily, our senior leaders have been nothing but supportive of our success. And the Wellness Strategic Plan Working Group and the Strategic Nursing Wellness Council have been warm and welcoming partners.
Q. Another big initiative was the annual Wellbeing Index Survey. You’re still compiling results, but is there any good news to share about participation?
A. Definitely. Not only were we able to expand the WBI across more groups and to more affiliates, our clinical faculty participation was 97 percent above our five-year average, and our APP participation was up 30 percent. I’m so grateful that people took the time to provide this valuable data, which we’ll share with area leaders in the next few of weeks. And we’re offering consultative services for making sense of the results and planning interventions.
Q. What are you excited about in the year ahead?
A. I can’t wait to see what projects and improvements result from the work of our Wellbeing Fellows and Wellbeing Mini-Grant awardees. These initiatives will highlight areas of need as well as provide help. We’re also exploring new ways to use existing data to better understand wellbeing and occupational distress at URMC, which is very exciting!
Collaboration with the people and programs of URMC will continue to be critical for our success, and I look forward to building new relationships and strengthening existing ones across our organization. I’m eager to help recognize the great work that’s going on here at URMC and the amazing people who are making it happen.
On a personal level, I’m grateful for the outstanding human beings I get to work with in the Office of Wellbeing each day—and so many other incredible people here at URMC—and I look forward to seeing their continued ideas, success, and leadership.
And while I’ve loved this Rochester winter, I’m excited to see Spring come, too.
Wellbeing: Three Things to Know
Programs: The Office of Wellbeing (OWB) is rolling out some of its first programs for faculty and staff: Wellbeing Mini-Grants, Wellbeing Fellows, and an innovative, but proven, dine-and-discuss group called Colleague Connect that’s specifically for some staff.
Partnerships: Our ACWO worked closely with Informatics on DAX, an ambient AI documentation program that’s reducing administrative burden and improving professional satisfaction for our clinicians. And our team collaborated with CMO Mike Apostolakos, MD, the Executive Credentials and Privilege Review Committee, and Medical Staff Services to modify credentialing questions, ensuring that our clinicians can get needed mental health treatment without worrying about their careers (see sidebar).
Presence: The OWB created a one-page guide to URMC’s wellbeing resources and an intranet page to showcase both the work of the office and other existing resources. A public-facing website is in the works to assist with recruitment and retention.
Author
