The philosophy of Reproductive Specialists of New York is simple: “Provide our patients with world-class medicine and state-of-the art technology combined with compassionate, personalized care.”

When Dr. Gabriel San Roman opened Reproductive Specialists in 1997, his goal was to provide state of the art infertility treatment in a personalized and caring environment; all of the physicians who have joined the practice share this philosophy. Dr. San Roman and his associates hire staff who not only are experts in their fields, but who are dedicated to putting the needs of patients first.

Professional HR help needed.
Sue McGreevy is Director of Operations and Management at Reproductive Specialists. With more than 90 physicians and staff in two locations, she recognized that the growing practice needed additional help in the human resources area. In fact, she had been planning several important HR initiatives, but had lacked the manpower to execute them.

A colleague recommended CR+T. McGreevy initially met with Barry Rubenstein as a courtesy to her colleague, but saw that he was exactly the resource the practice needed. She explains, “A lot of what Barry had to offer, we simply couldn’t do ourselves without ‘reinventing the wheel.’ Barry had already done similar things for many other clients, and could step right in and help”

Getting right to work to address important HR concerns.
One of McGreevy’s major goals was to improve employee morale and retention. Rubenstein started by creating an employee survey, and personally interviewed more than half of the staff. Based on what he learned, he developed an action plan to address the most critical issues. The employees appreciated the opportunity for feedback, and felt that someone was really listening. “Even with the items we chose not to act on right away,” McGreevy says, “the employees were able to understand that there were valid reasons for not moving forward at the time.”

Management training was another area that needed attention. A number of people in the company were long-term employees who had been rewarded for good work with promotions, even though they had no management experience. With personalized training and one-on-one guidance, Barry Rubenstein was able to improve their skills and boost their confidence as managers.

Rubenstein also wrote an employee handbook — another much-needed project — which helped to establish HR policies and procedures, and offered support for employees having performance issues.

“An agent of positive change.”
Sue McGreevy feels that Rubenstein has made a valuable contribution to Reproductive Specialists. “Our employees have never been happier. Barry is recognized as an agent of positive change in our practice; he’s a resource that they can turn to, and discuss any issue that affects the workplace.” From a personal standpoint, McGreevy says, “Barry is someone I can bounce ideas off of and to whom I can vent frustrations. He helps me put things in perspective.”

The partner physicians in the practice are also thrilled with Rubenstein’s contributions. “Barry provides us with much more than any in-house HR person we could afford to hire. With Barry, we get a high-level HR person with extensive experience — a management colleague who gives us a reliable reality check and helps us mitigate risk.”

McGreevy concludes, “We strive to be a center for excellence. We want to incorporate best practices and exhibit a high level of professionalism with our patients and our employees. Barry helps us to achieve that.”