Capstone project contributes to local hospital pay raise

In early October, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center announced that it was raising pay to $15 an hour for 3,000 employees. The move by the region’s largest hospital is part of a broader effort to attract and retain talent at all levels of the organization. Behind CCHMC’s move was research and analysis to aid in the decision-making, conducted by Yashkumar (Yash) Patel, MAHR ’19 and BBA ’18.

For his capstone project in the Carl H. Lindner College of Business Master of Arts in Human Resources program, Patel conducted market scans and external benchmarking across the nation’s health care and non-health care organizations to produce a recommendation.

Patel worked with Lisa Wood, senior director of Human Resources at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, to conduct external benchmarking and cost modeling across the country’s health care and non-health care organizations.

“This was a ‘classic’ compensation project,” said Patel. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have played a part in Cincy Children’s decision that will impact the lives of thousands of their employees.”

Patel benefited from the mentorship of Wood, he said.

“Yash helped us gain a high-level understanding of the external competitive environment,” said Wood. “One of his most important contributions was his resourcefulness in identifying the MIT Living Wage Calculator as a method for Cincinnati Children’s to estimate the cost of living in our community.”

Capstone projects such as these are essential to students’ success in the program and in the workforce, according to MA-HR Program Director Mike Wagner.

“In a specialized master’s program like MA-HR, immersive capstone projects help students build their portfolio of work experience and be more competitive in the marketplace,” said Wagner. “They are embedded in an organization to help solve an important HR problem, from talent acquisition and staffing to compensation and benefits to legal matters.”

Patel was attracted to the MA-HR program in 2018 after completing his bachelor’s degree in finance at the Lindner College of Business. His first co-op in the human resources department at Kings Island piqued his interest in HR. From there, he got involved in UC’s Society for Human Resources Management, which provided networking opportunities with local HR professionals and a way for him to connect his studies to his work experience.

“There is immense potential in both human capital and financial capital in any organization,” said Patel. “My experience in both the finance and human resources disciplines will help me make a difference for organizations.

“From here, the sky is the limit,” continued Patel. “Learning is a lifelong journey. I’ll always be finding new ways to learn and grow in my profession.”

Featured image: Yashkumar (Yash) Patel, MAHR ’19 and BBA ’18, stands in front of the new Carl H. Lindner Hall. The research he conducted for his capstone project in the Master of Arts in Human Resources program helped Cincincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center decide to raise pay for 3,000 employees.