Employee survey shows broad gains at North Shore Health
North Shore Health’s most recent employee engagement survey showed broad improvements across the hospital, with roughly two-thirds of respondents reporting satisfaction with their jobs across all measured categories.
The strongest gains were reported in communication, workplace culture, work-life balance and relationships with leadership.
Results from the 2025 survey were compared with an initial survey conducted in August 2024. The survey was administered by the Workforce Research Group, with findings reported to the hospital board in December by the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative.
The results follow a separate workplace culture assessment presented in November by Bill Auxier, CEO of the Center for Rural Health Leadership, which also showed improvement.
“This is something, too, that we were kind of mandated by the public to address, and we listened,” North Shore Health board treasurer Patty Winchell-Dahl said after hearing the results. “And I think this is something that we need to get out in the public and in the community to see that we do listen and we are working on it, and North Shore Health is a great place to work.”
Of the hospital’s 141 employees, 81 responded to the survey, compared with 88 respondents in 2024. The survey included 76 questions, with employees asked to rate their level of agreement on a five-point scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.”
North Shore Health showed improvement on every question, with multiple categories increasing by more than 10 percentage points.
“This is not something I typically see,” Corrie Searles, a leadership development educator with the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, told the board. “These move in a positive direction in every single category. So that’s something to celebrate.””
Since the initial survey, North Shore Health has focused on building what the National Rural Health Association calls a “culture of connection.”
“A lot of what they’re looking at is there’s kind of three different organizational cultures,” Wraalstad told WTIP. “One is the culture of control, culture of indifference, and culture of connection. You’re going to have all three of those different cultures at any given point in time just because of what’s going on, but you want to try to create a dominant culture of connection.”
As part of that effort, Wraalstad introduced “Leadership Exchange,” a hybrid meeting where she and other department leaders share updates and discuss hospital operations. The hospital also began publishing a monthly employee newsletter, written by the public information officer, to improve internal communication.
“It’s the hard work of the department leaders and their teams in developing the action plans and then working to advance those action plans,” Wraalstad said.
Wraalstad cited the COVID-19 pandemic, staffing shortages and financial strain as contributors to lower morale in 2024, while emphasizing the need for continued progress from the hospital’s leadership team.
“I think we’re at a pivotal point in health care, just by generations, and the stress points with the staff, and then you’ve got all the reimbursement challenges and the dynamics that are happening there,” Searles said during the board meeting. “There’s pressure points in many places. ”
Looking ahead, Wraalstad said reimbursement challenges and North Shore Health’s workforce will remain a concern.
The employee engagement results were one of several positive developments for the hospital this year. Earlier in 2025, the Minnesota Legislature passed changes to swing-bed status that could improve the hospital’s finances. North Shore Health was also named a top-20 critical access hospital and expanded its physical therapy services.
WTIP’s Josh Hinke spoke with Wraalstad and North Shore Health Board Chair Randy Wiitala about the survey results, the year in review and expectations for 2026. Audio from that conversation is available below.
Josh Hinke December 30, 2025
