L.E.G.A.C.Y. Training Unites TBRC Staff and Celebrates Clinic Culture 

Leaders from The Baton Rouge Clinic (TBRC) visited Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, looking for insight and fresh ideas to support their growing organization. 

According to Shunn Phillips, CPA, CHC, chief financial officer, the team left with more than expected. “We saw a lot: the simulation laboratory, clinical areas, and various operations,” she said. “We spent a good amount of time talking about staff training, patient flow, and more. But what absolutely blew us away was the amount of training and development staff receive before they step foot into their Mayo Clinic work areas.” 

The team quickly recognized a common thread: values. 

“We heard about Mayo Clinic’s RICH TIES (respect, integrity, compassion, healing, teamwork, innovation, excellence, and stewardship) values over and over. The staff knew Mayo Clinic’s story and could recite the values. It was obvious that the culture and expectations flowed out from their understanding of Mayo Clinic’s history and purpose. It shows in how the staff approach their work,” said Phillips. 

Inspired by that experience, TBRC leadership returned to Baton Rouge determined to create a similar culture—one rooted in shared values and a strong sense of purpose.  

“We started working with Mayo Clinic subject matter experts (SMEs) on a service excellence program for the entire organization that would be tailored to the different roles and areas,” Phillips said. “It was important that the program fit each person, role, and department.”  

The team also completed benchmarking to measure progress as the program unfolded. 

“We knew we were headed down the right path, but it felt like we had a story to tell much like Mayo Clinic does,” said Phillips. “We wanted our people to understand our culture and expectations for every employee—like how we’re going to treat each other, how we’re going to treat our patients—the kinds of things we expect no matter what a person’s role is.” 

With support from Mayo Clinic SMEs—through virtual meetings and on-site visits—TBRC launched the L.E.G.A.C.Y. program. The acronym stands for: 

• Living with integrity 

• Excellence 

• Giving respect 

• Acting with fairness 

• Compassion for your community 

• You modeling the way 

Since then, the program has reached all 800 TBRC employees and is now a standard part of onboarding for new hires. 

“We have held dozens of L.E.G.A.C.Y. sessions, and every time we show the video, there are cheers and tears,” Phillips says. “Staff are inspired and motivated by patient stories and how we as an organization impact patients. It’s fun to revisit our rich history.” 

That history includes the story of the clinic’s first “patient,” a black Labrador retriever, and the original location above the Pig & Whistle restaurant. These quirky yet symbolic milestones are woven into the L.E.G.A.C.Y. training to connect staff to the clinic’s roots. 

Beyond feel-good moments, the training is also delivering measurable results. “We have already seen improvement in our employee retention,” Phillips noted. “When people feel good about the place they work, they stay and help us recruit others. That’s a big deal right now with every organization dealing with recruitment and talent retention.”  

Phillips credits Mayo Clinic for sparking the idea and supporting the rollout. “We couldn’t have done this without Mayo Clinic,” she said. “They sparked the idea by being open and sharing when we visited. They emphasized the importance of investing in staff, generously shared documents and tools, and worked with us all along the way. Our access to their people is a core reason why we have the L.E.G.A.C.Y. program today.”  

Thanks to collaboration, TBRC staff are not just doing their jobs—they’re living their legacy.