Moffitt Cancer Center Named One of Working Mother Magazine’s 100 Best Companies for 10th Time
When Sherri Smith isn’t organizing and supporting the electronic health record for perioperative services at Moffitt Cancer Center, she’s a mom to her two teenagers, Sarah, 17, and Tyler, 16. It’s a job she takes seriously, but admits it can be challenging.
“With kids you have to adjust your life for theirs,” said Smith, a nursing informatics liaison. “There are transportation logistics and doctor appointments. Today the biggest challenge is their part-time jobs and getting them where they need to be on time.”
Fortunately, the flexibility allowed by Moffitt permitted Smith to spend more time raising her children, and that’s just one of many examples as to why the cancer center is again named one of Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies. This marks the 10th year that Moffitt is recognized for its strong leadership in creating progressive programs for its workforce in the areas of advancement of women, flexibility, child care and paid parental leave.
“The cancer center is honored by our continued inclusion on this list,” said Moffitt President and CEO Alan F. List, M.D. “We understand the importance of work-life balance for all of our team members. Not only is it better for our work environment, but it is better for the families of our team members. It is rewarding to be honored for something we put so much effort into.”
Working at Moffitt has certainly made it easier for Smith to be the mom she wants to be.
She says that since she started here in 1991, Moffitt has always accommodated her need for a healthy work-life balance. When her children were in elementary school, Smith remembers that her supervisors allowed her to work weekends, which gave her more free time during the week to volunteer at school.
“When the kids were younger, I was always on the PTA as an officer of some sort,” Smith said. “Moffitt made it easy to be flexible with my schedule to participate at the right times to meet both of their needs. I was actively involved in the schools for more than nine years and never had an issue with work keeping me from my children.”
When her children entered high school, she changed her schedule to weekdays to allow for more involvement with her family’s weekend activities.
In 2016, Smith earned her bachelor’s in nursing through an online program, which was fully funded through Moffitt’s educational assistance program. It’s a career highlight that she knows she couldn’t have achieved working elsewhere.
“Moffitt recognizes the challenges our working moms face in meeting the needs of their loved ones while also making a difference in their roles at Moffitt. We are committed to providing an accommodating and flexible environment so that our moms can meet those challenges and find balance in both their personal and professional lives,” said Mariana Bugallo-Muros, chief human resources officer at Moffitt. “It is again an honor to be recognized by Working Mother Magazine as a best employer for working moms.”
In addition to flex time and educational assistance, Moffitt offers several other benefits. Backup child and elder care helps mothers grow in their careers while balancing family life, and parental leave offers new moms an additional four weeks of paid leave, as well as one week of paid leave for new dads, and job protection for mothers beyond the 12 weeks provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Smith has the honor of representing Moffitt on Oct. 8 at Working Mother’s annual WorkBeyond Summit in New York. She will also be featured in a special Working Mother of the Year commemorative publication, which will publish in the fall.
The complete list of the 2018 Working Mother 100 Best Companies can be found here.
About Moffitt Cancer Center
Moffitt is dedicated to one lifesaving mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. The Tampa-based facility is one of only 49 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s scientific excellence, multidisciplinary research, and robust training and education. Moffitt is a Top 10 cancer hospital and has been nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report since 1999. Moffitt devotes more than 2 million square feet to research and patient care. Moffitt’s expert nursing staff is recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet® status, its highest distinction. With more than 6,000 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of $2.1 billion. For more information, call 1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488), visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the momentum on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
