By David Fortier

While the opening of its community health center and headquarters earlier this month brings Wheeler’s integrated open access model of health care to Bristol, along with its staff and new patients, the healthcare provider’s president and chief executive officer is headed out on the road as she engages in an annual process that brings her out to Wheeler’s many locations through the state.

“It does take me a while,” Sabrina Trocchi said, “but it’s a great opportunity for me to go out and to hear directly from staff on what’s working, what’s not work, what do we need to focus on.”

Wheeler has around 1,000 staff in 40 locations throughout Connecticut, with over 100 programs. The headquarters has between 150 and 160 staff on location depending on the day.

The visits, which take until to spring to complete, are one more opportunity for Trocchi to invest in Wheeler’s employees, which are key to a successful and award-winning Wheeler culture.

“The work we do is very complex,” Trocchi said. “It’s very difficult work. If you have a workplace that is not well, they can’t provide good care.”

Recently Wheeler was recognized as a 2024 Top Workplace Industry Award for Healthcare. The award, from Energage, acknowledges organizations that build a people-first workplace culture, with a focus on compassion, diversity and inclusion, integrity and teamwork.

“We’ve looked at what changes we could make internally to support our staff in doing this critical work,” Trocchi said. “Just looking for opportunities to let them know that they’re welcome to provide feedback on what they feel is working and not working.”

As part of this dynamic is the idea of accountability–for her.

“To say, ‘We’ve heard you,” she said, “‘and these are the changes we’re making in response to that.'”

And then, when it isn’t possible to follow through.

“Once again, holding myself accountable to be able to justify and explain to staff why we’re not in a position to move forward on something at this point,” Trocchi said, “but it’s something that we’ll continue to think about in the future.”

Communication is an important component in this dynamic, Trocchi said, and Wheeler makes use of a variety of forums for its employees.

At a monthly town hall meeting, employees have an opportunity to ask questions and share experiences, she said. For those who might be comfortable sharing in a group setting, they can submit questions and comments, anonymously, in advance.

“We’ve put into place a number of initiatives really focused on staff health and wellness and looking for opportunities to engage staff in thinking about self-care,” Trocchi said.

Because Wheeler has staff in all different types of programs that might not be available to participate in person, she said, the sessions are recorded and shared.

“We just feel like communication needs to be utilizing several different vehicles, but it needs to be consistent and ongoing,” she said.

Toward this goal, Wheeler also produces a monthly staff newsletter that informs staff of programming but also solicits feedback.

About her statewide visits, Trocchi said, “I begin every fall, and it takes me up until spring. I do my very best to go out to meet with every single one of our programs, each one of our sites.”

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