Skip to main content

St. Jude Employees: The Heartbeat of the Hospital

For the employees who dedicate their lives to St. Jude, working at the hospital is more than a job. It’s a calling.

By Elizabeth Jane Walker; Photos by Justin Veneman

A diverse group of St. Jude employees smile and pose for selfies.
A diverse group of St. Jude employees smile and pose for selfies.

Selfie time

A small group of St. Jude faculty and staff gather for a photo to celebrate the most recent Fortune magazine award.

 

They’ve come from 50 states and more than 80 foreign countries, inspired by the mission, awed by the phenomenal scientific facilities. These dedicated individuals marshal their intellect, their compassion and their energy toward one goal: finding cures and saving children.

They are the employees of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Thousands of faculty and staff work together night and day to make discoveries and advance cures. Whether they’re practicing medicine and science, calibrating state-of-the-art machinery or cooking gourmet food, St. Jude employees offer families a light in the darkness.

“It is our diverse and talented workforce that makes us who we are,” says James R. Downing, MD, St. Jude president and chief executive officer.

Long celebrated for its clinical and scientific merits, St. Jude now heads many lists as one of the best workplaces in America.

The reason?

“Our patients and their families inspire us to continue searching for cures and improving treatments,” explains Dana Bottenfield, vice president of St. Jude Human Resources. “Our employees connect to our mission, and we’re focused on fostering a culture that allows them to do their best work.”

Our employees connect to our mission, and we’re focused on fostering a culture that allows them to do their best work.

Dana Bottenfield

 

For the past eight years, St. Jude has been named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by Fortune magazine. In 2018, Glassdoor named the hospital to its listing of the nation’s best places to work. People magazine has touted St. Jude as one of the “Companies That Care.” Fortune also praised the institution as one of the best workplaces for women and millennials, as well as for diversity and health care. And the federal government has lauded St. Jude for the support it offers employees who serve in the military.

Those accolades inspire St. Jude employees to work harder. The hospital’s workforce features many who are the best in their fields—including Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators, a Nobel laureate and members of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.

These employees are drawn by the mission and the unparalleled resources, but they stay because of the collaborative environment—a place where they can save the lives of children today, while discovering the cures of tomorrow.

“We must be bold and ambitious, chasing big dreams and pursuing scientific and medical excellence,” Downing says. “It is our legacy and our future.”

Donate Now Promise Archive

More articles from this issue

 
Close