McDaniel named HR director at Samaritan

MOSES LAKE - Lisa McDaniel is the new human resources director at Samaritan Healthcare.

McDaniel, 53, joined the staff in mid-September, she said. Previously McDaniel was employed at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital in Ellensburg.

At Samaritan, McDaniel will be in charge of staff training and development, labor relations and employee law, volunteers, evaluating and managing employee performance, she said.

McDaniel said there's an old saying in employee relations, that a quality organization is all about the people, always has been and always will be. It may be old but, McDaniel said, in her opinion it's true. In fact, there are statistics to prove it's true in health care. McDaniel said there are studies that show health care facilities that have less than 12 percent staff turnover have reduced mortality rates.

"Everyone has a role in the organization. We're all helping to save lives," she said.

Evaluation is changing in the health care industry, McDaniel said, for everybody involved, from employees to entire hospitals. Patient satisfaction and their evaluation of treatment, employee satisfaction, quality control, profitability, are all becoming more important in the evaluation process. The results reflect it when employees are involved and engaged in the organization, McDaniel said, from patient satisfaction to finances.

Moses Lake is a growing area and McDaniel said it was exciting to be part of that growth, and exciting to be part of the initiatives going on at the hospital.

In addition, the former resident of Whidbey Island liked Moses Lake. "I missed the water."

McDaniel has a career of about 25 years in the medical field, but that wasn't her original career choice. "I started in higher education," she said, working in student services and overseeing residence halls. But higher education was going through some challenging times, and a hospital in Bellingham needed someone in its human resources department. "The rest is history," McDaniel said. But in a sense the two careers overlapped, because she's used the skills she picked up in higher education in the medical field, she said.