Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare transforms benefits administration and employee experience with Workday and Strada

An interview with Andrea Pitman, Director HR Service Center, and Angela Free, Senior Director Total Rewards, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare 

For healthcare organizations, employee experience is directly connected to the systems and services that support the workforce. As Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH) continued to grow, its HR and benefits teams recognized the need to modernize processes that relied heavily on manual administration and employee intervention. Supporting more than 11,000 employees across a complex healthcare network required a scalable, digital-first approach that could improve efficiency while delivering better experience for employees and managers alike.  

By implementing Workday and partnering with Strada, MLH transformed benefits administration, modernized HR service delivery, and established a stronger foundation for future workforce initiatives.   

How Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare went from paper forms and fax machines to modern HR self-service 

When Angela Free joined MLH in 2021, she found an organization with dedicated HR teams and a strong commitment to employee service. However, many HR and benefits processes remained highly manual. Benefits transactions frequently required employees to work directly with HR representatives, complete paper forms, and rely on manual processing and vendor communications.   

While these processes had served the organization for years, they were becoming increasingly difficult to sustain at scale.

“We went from nothing to everything. We moved from fully manual processes to a fully automated environment with employee self-service, manager self-service, and a shared services model.”

Angela Free Senior Director Total Rewards, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

MLH recognized that simply replacing technology would not be enough. The transformation required rethinking how employees accessed support, how self-service would be introduced, and how HR services would be delivered at scale. As part of the redesign, the organization developed a shared services strategy, defined a future-state HR Service Center model, and established how Workday Benefits and Strada's benefits administration expertise would support employees throughout their journey.

Building a foundation for HR and benefits administration transformation 

Rather than simply replacing a system, MLH viewed Workday as an opportunity to fundamentally rethink how benefits administration and HR services were delivered.  

The transformation included Workday Benefits as part of a larger enterprise-wide implementation involving Human Capital Management, Finance, Supply Chain, and Payroll. The initiative also coincided with another significant organizational undertaking, the deployment of a new Epic electronic medical records platform shortly after Workday went live. 

For Andrea Pitman, who served as Benefits Manager during the implementation and now leads the HR Service Center, the project created an opportunity to build a more scalable future state.

“We really transformed the way we support employees. Workday enabled us to create standardized processes, self-service capabilities, and a service center model that simply wasn't possible before.”

Andrea Pitman Director HR Service Center, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

A new model for delivery with Workday through a centralized HR service centre

One of the most significant outcomes of the transformation was the creation of a centralized HR service center. Previously, frontline specialists were embedded within individual HR functions, handling employee transactions directly. As Workday capabilities expanded, MLH was able to redesign its operating model and establish a shared services environment. Employee support moved into the service center while subject matter expertise remained within specialized HR teams. 

This new model provided employees with greater self-service access while allowing HR teams to focus more on strategic and complex work. Workday Benefits played a critical role in this shift by enabling employees to manage their benefits more independently while ensuring governance, consistency, and visibility across the organization. Alongside the transformation, Strada provided benefits administration expertise and ongoing support for the Workday Benefits environment, helping MLH sustain and optimize the model after go-live. 

Optimizing employee benefits services with Strada 

While Workday provided the platform, MLH partnered with Strada to help configure, implement and optimize the Benefits Administration environment and support the organization through ongoing Benefits Administration. 

Today, the partnership continues to thrive as Strada works alongside MLH to optimize and enhance its Workday Benefits environment, helping the organization improve employee experiences, manage benefits administration, and support ongoing workforce transformation long after the initial deployment.

“Having Strada as a partner that understands both benefits administration and the realities of supporting a large healthcare workforce has been incredibly valuable. From the initial deployment of Workday Benefits to ongoing optimization and support, the relationship has continued well beyond go-live and helped us build a stronger employee experience.”

Angela Free Senior Director Total Rewards, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

Delivering better employee experience through greater access and simplicity

For employees, one of the biggest changes was simplicity. Before Workday and Strada, many transactions required HR intervention. Today, employees and managers have direct access to the information and processes they need through a modern digital experience. 

This became particularly evident during annual enrollment. Given the scale of change undertaken by the organization, many expected significant disruption during the first enrollment cycle in Workday. Instead, the process ran remarkably smoothly.

“The feedback we received after our first annual enrollment was, ‘Was that it?’ It was almost anticlimactic because it worked so well. People realized it really could be that easy.”

Andrea Pitman Director HR Service Center, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

For the HR team, that reaction became one of the strongest indicators of success.

The biggest impacts and outcomes of MLH's employee experience transformations

 Two years after go-live, MLH continues to see measurable improvements across employee experience, benefits administration, and HR service delivery. 

One of the clearest indicators of success has been the shift toward employee self-service. While the number of benefits events processed has remained consistent since go-live, benefits-related cases entering the HR Service Center have declined by 30%, suggesting employees are increasingly comfortable managing transactions independently through Workday.  

The organization has also gained significantly greater visibility into employee support and service delivery. For the first time, HR leaders can track case volumes, service trends, knowledge article usage, and employee satisfaction in real time, helping the team make more informed, data-driven decisions.  

Two years after go-live, the impact of the transformation is visible in both employee behavior and service delivery metrics: 

• 30% reduction in benefits-related case volume through increased self-service adoption 
• 52% employee opt-in rate for text message communications, improving employee engagement and outreach.  
• 70% adoption of the Workday mobile experience between June and August 2026. 
• High employee satisfaction score across HR case support interactions 

Building a future-ready HR and benefits operating model 

As the organization continues its digital transformation journey, Workday remains a foundation for future innovation. A key benefit has been the ability to standardize processes and establish a single source of truth and partner across the organization. 

The transition from manual processing to digital workflows improved consistency, reduced administrative effort, and provided better visibility into workforce and benefits information. At the same time, employees gained a more intuitive experience while HR teams gained greater confidence in their data. These improvements continue to support ongoing initiatives around workforce management, employee service, and operational efficiency. 

Healthcare organizations face increasing pressure to improve employee experiences while maintaining operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. MLH's investment in Workday and its partnership with Strada have created a platform capable of supporting those evolving needs. 

For Andrea Pitman and Angela Free, one of the greatest achievements isn't simply implementing technology but helping the organization prepare for the future.  

“You can’t operate like a small business when you’re supporting thousands of employees. We needed a model that would scale with the organization while still delivering a great employee experience. Together, Workday and Strada helped us build that foundation, giving us the technology, support model, and expertise needed to transform how we serve our workforce.”

Andrea Pitman Director HR Service Center, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

Advice for others on the same journey 

Looking back, both leaders agree that successful transformation requires more than technology. It requires a willingness to rethink long-standing processes and create an operating model designed for the future. 

Their advice to organizations considering a similar journey is simple, focus on employee experience, invest in change management, and embrace transformation as an opportunity to redesign how work gets done rather than simply replacing systems. 

For Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, the result has been much more than a modern benefits administration platform. By transforming HR service delivery, creating a shared services model, embracing self-service, and simplifying how employees interact with HR, the organization has built a scalable foundation for the future. Today, Workday and Strada continue to support that journey, helping MLH deliver a better employee experience while enabling caregivers and clinical staff to focus on what matters most, caring for patients.