Growth Calls for Communication and Diversity

“What has always set Burrell’s culture apart is the work we do, and how seriously we take client care and the business of behavioral health and substance use recovery,” says Burrell Behavioral Health Communications Director Matt Lemmon. “We are in the business of saving lives and making lives better. You can’t have a better rallying point than that.”

Due to substantial growth, Burrell has added 111 positions in the last 12 months and is at an all-time high for full-time employees. Developing and defining its culture remains a high priority, and something in which Burrell is investing a great deal of time and resources to do.

This substantial addition of staff presented an ideal time to assess company culture. And while Burrell’s 2020 strategic plan consists of six focus areas, two seemed particularly important to address. The first addresses culture and customer service and has everything to do with making clients feel welcomed and Burrell staff members feel connected, and that they are fairly compensated.

“We are building something special here. You can feel it growing day by day,” says Lemmon. “And while we have experienced great growth over the last couple of years, the elevator is still on the ground floor. We’ve pushed the button, but there’s still time to get on.”

In addition, Burrell has established a committee, made up of a cross-section of Burrell employees, who take on staff related initiatives and serve as liaisons between the wider staff and executive leadership. “We have also drastically increased the quality and frequency of communication with our employees through our communications department,” says Lemmon.

Another strategic focus area is diversity and inclusion. Burrell is preparing to roll out an intensive diversity survey and, in summer 2018, hired its first director of diversity & inclusion, Dr. Shelly Farnan. Dr. Farnan is leading these efforts to make Burrell more diverse and inclusive, efforts which recently included a #BurrellPride campaign and sponsorships of PrideFest events in both Burrell’s southwest and central Missouri regions.

Lemmon says that roughly 75% of Burrell’s client base is on Medicaid. “By not just providing but expanding access to behavioral health services, these individuals are getting help they have never gotten before, help for their children, help for a loved one. And not only are we helping them get better, our team works incredibly hard to overcome mental health stigma, and to foster a conversation about mental health that our communities have never had before, which makes it easier for anyone to make that decision to seek care.”

As an organization, Burrell has been actively supportive of and sponsor for a number of not-for-profit and community events in southwest and central Missouri, and in northwest Arkansas. Recent Springfield partnerships include APO’s Black Tie Gala and the Go Blue for Children campaign during Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month in support of Isabel’s House and more.

“You will not find a more talented, dedicated group of individuals than the Burrell team,” says Lemmon. “Their passion for helping our clients is second to none, from our medical and clinical teams to every single administrative and support employee who makes that care possible.”

Burrell Behavioral Health
• Locations:
Springfield, MO; Branson, MO; Bolivar, MO; Nixa, MO; Marshfield, MO; Columbia, MO; Boonville, MO; Sedalia, MO; Carrollton, MO; Marshall, MO; Moberly, MO; Versailles, MO; California, MO; Fayetteville, AR; Rogers, AR; Berryville, AR; Harrison, AR; Mountain Home, AR
• 417-761-5000
• burrellcenter.com
• Service: Health Care