Armstrong County employees know their jobs inside and out

For Sharon Urban, director of general accounting at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, respect and individual accountability form the foundation of her finance department's success.

"When I took this job," she said, "I explained (to the staff) that they were the experts, and I was more of an air traffic controller. I expected them to know their jobs from beginning to end."

As she sees it, that willingness to let her staff do what they know best has paid off, and she has "seen a lot of people blossom in their roles."

Part of her role, she added, is "to encourage a good work-life balance. It's impossible for personal lives not to bleed over into work, and vice versa. Offering flexibility encourages the staff to do well."

As for how she keeps her staff from getting overwhelmed in an era of seemingly constant change, Urban said that "there's no point in panicking about anything. If we sit down and talk rationally (about things like ICD-10), we eliminate panic and fear. We try to look at what those changes really mean to us."

Return to the Where to Work: Best Hospital Finance Departments homepage