Mayo Clinic celebrates third annual Employee Appreciation event

Chandler Jackson V KAALTV

Mayo Employee Appreciation

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(ABC 6 News) – Mayo Clinic held its annual Employee Appreciation event for third year in row, most of it taking place in downtown Rochester along Peace Plaza, with a second, smaller version set up near the Saint Marys campus.

Food, games for charity, music, and other activities were available for mayo employees to take advantage of.

“It’s very important for us to make sure that our staff is healthy and that they’re taken care of,” said Executive Dean of the Practice Dr. Amy Williams. “We look for many different ways to do that.”

In its third year, it’s clear Mayo wanted to try to share its gratitude to its workforce – and some employees certainly felt it.

“It means a lot,” said Marilyn Syverson, a nurse who’s been employed at Mayo for 28 years, “because an organization this big to do a recognition for a staff this big, it means they put some thought into it and I really appreciate that personally.”

Not all of Mayo’s employees, however, have felt appreciated.

This year in particular has seen a number of efforts by mayo workers to unionize and demand better pay and working conditions.

The Service Employees International Union spent much of the year picketing, petitioning and negotiating for higher wages for hundreds of workers – a process that still sits in arbitration.

In April, a group of nurses began making moves to unionize, forming the Med City Nursing Alliance.

Mayo, in response, says its efforts to show employee appreciation extend to all of its workers.

“We’re here together,” Dr. Williams said. “We respect both our staff that belong to unions and those that don’t. And we all work together for our patients and to transform healthcare.”

And it’s hard to ignore how some long-term employees feel about their employer.

“Only at a place like Mayo Clinic can a nurse get to do as many diverse roles as I have gotten to do over the years,” said Syverson. “The opportunities are endless.”