by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Workspace: PPR Healthcare Staffing CFO Harold Tool
Harold Tool may be one of the busiest people in town this week and he won’t be anywhere near his Jacksonville Beach office.
Tool is chair of this year’s Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach.
“That week, I will not work,” said Tool during a recent interview. “I will be down there from that Thursday through the Monday after the tournament. I will not be at work at all and I will not return phone calls or e-mails. I will just focus on The Players.”
Tool said most of his days will be about 12 hours long and he’ll spend a majority of his time making sure the tournament’s 1,200 volunteers have what they need to do their jobs.
Tool is CFO of PPR Healthcare Staffing. The company employs about 55 people locally and another 200 that are referred to as “travelers.” PPR hires and places nurses, speech pathologists, physical therapists and linguistics pathologists.
The company has been named one of the best places to work by the Society for Human Resource Management several times. Consider that the company is oceanfront, has an in-house fitness center, an employee lounge and a kitchen area, and management makes sure there are fresh muffins and fruit in the morning. There also is an open line of communication between upper management and the employees that makes the company tick.
“The most important thing about PPR is the culture,” said Tool, who joined the company three years ago after spending most of his career as a health-care consultant. He even served as interim CEO of two hospitals in Northern California at the same time.
“We are an open book. As CFO, if anyone has any questions about the numbers, I am happy to answer them,” he said.
The company also goes out of its way to assure work is enjoyable. From dressing up for Halloween to their own version of “Amazing Race,” Tool said the company and employees understand the importance of time outside the office.
In addition to its in-house staff, PPR hires and assigns professionals in the health-care field. If a nurse wants to work around the country for a few years, PPR will place that nurse in hospitals for usually 13 weeks at a time and assure they have somewhere to live.
“Most of our employees are young or empty nesters,” said Tool, who graduated from the University of Florida with a finance degree.
Chairing The Players doesn’t just mean exposure to golf. It means playing as well, although that’s not Tool’s forte.
“I play as rarely as possible. I’m a terrible golfer. My handicap is that I ever picked up a golf club,” he said, adding he has felt some pressure to improve, especially as he worked his way to become a vice chair of The Players.
“For the most part, the Red Coats (former chairs) have given up on me. That allows me to concentrate on the volunteers.”
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