If there’s one thing we at Consonus treasure beyond all else, it’s our intentional company culture. We describe every pharmacy employee as a Champion, with a mission to help each patient and customer we serve live the best rest of their lives. As our founder and CEO, Phil Fogg, explains:
It’s not what we do, but how we do what we do that defines us as a company.”
Over the years, our culture has been nurtured and preserved by accepting, supporting and celebrating the diversity, talents and achievements of every employee. Nothing is more important than that every new staff member feel welcome and embraced as a part of the Consonus organization. Through successes and challenges alike, we thrive because we lift each other up, both personally and collectively.
We’ve designed entire programs built on that philosophy. Pharmacy staff who exemplify the mission in daily actions and behaviors are recognized with Champion awards. Those who go above and beyond to make a defining act in a defining moment outside of normal responsibilities are honored as Legends. And those who have made a sustained career commitment to the senior care profession and to Consonus receive Ambassador recognition.
Our unique culture continues to thrive and grow because it’s an inseparable part of our work lives and motivations, every minute of every day—that’s why we even have a Director of Intentional Culture. It’s who we are, and we’re never leaving it to chance.
Not so long ago, we asked our pharmacy staff to answer from the heart one simple question: “What is your Why?”—the reason you crawl out of bed and come to work every day. Their answers made it clear that for many, the opportunity to make a difference in the world both in the pharmacy and beyond it was of great importance in their choice of Consonus as an employer.
One of the ways we seek to give shape to those “Why’s” is by extending our mission into our local communities through the Vital Life Foundation. Founded in 2008, the organization supports charities and programs that provide meaning and vitality in the lives of seniors and staff living and working in senior care.
Charitable partners who benefit from money raised through Foundation donations include Ronald McDonald House, Meals on Wheels People the Alzheimer’s Association and many other causes our employees are passionate about.
By delivering roses on Valentine’s Day to residents in senior care facilities, Cupid Crew helps combat feelings of isolation and loneliness. Employees volunteer for the program, handing out nearly 3,000 roses at 13 senior care facilities in Oregon, California, and the Midwest.
Spirit of ’45 is an All-American-style summer community event honoring senior veterans, and celebrating the end of World War II. It’s a two-day tribute of joy, tears and gratitude for our nation’s heroes who lived, served and sometimes died to protect our country.
Wish of a Lifetime and Vital Life Foundation have teamed up to form Journey of Heroes to honor senior veterans who sacrificed so much and have never had the chance to visit the war memorials created in their honor in Washington, D.C. Since beginning the program in 2012, our annual donation has helped us take 105 Veterans on the trip of a lifetime.
Through the Vital Volunteers program, a resident or staff member can contribute time or money to the Foundation, and have it matched up to $1,000 per year. Since the Foundation began, Vital Volunteers have made possible contributions of nearly $350,000 to charitable organizations they value and support.
Employees of Marquis Companies and Consonus Healthcare are part of a rich tradition and culture of giving back to the communities where we live and work, and supporting the Vital Life mission. More than 40 percent of staff give monthly through direct payroll deductions—making Spirit Club the Foundation’s second largest funding source.
Each year therapists and their families are also on the receiving end of Foundation generosity, as the grade school children of all employees receive backpacks filled with school supplies.
One of the most meaningful programs in which therapists are actively involved is New Chapters in which they help arrange special events or activities for patients celebrating a rehab recovery goal, re-experiencing an important life event or crossing something off their bucket list. Examples that honored amazing rehab success stories have included a patient getting to ski again after a severe spinal accident, or another who regained the strength to hike to the top of one of the Northwest’s most famous landmarks, Multnomah Falls.
