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University presidents call for restructuring of UCSF Stanford Health Care
The Benefit Metaphor
by Edward D. Harris, Jr.
Many of you probably remember the hospital benefit, and even younger docs on staff, I'm sure, have heard their colleagues talk about these classic events. In the old days, these gala parties always fell on a day when you would rather be doing something else like going to the latest movie or having dinner with friends. You dressed up - coat and tie, maybe a tux, or fancy cocktail dress. The organizers represented a broad spectrum - hospital staff, physicians' spouses, community volunteers and even grateful patients. The supporters invariably put great numbers of hours into planning and implementation.
Despite my occasional ambivalence, I always came away from these events feeling certain that it was the right place for me to be that night. Whether a reception and floor show at a department store, a garden party or a masquerade ball, the "benefit" made some money. More important, it helped everyone feel loyal and part of a truly important institution - their hospital.
The hospital benefit is a metaphor for what we need today at Stanford and Packard hospitals. We need to regenerate a feeling of closeness with our colleagues, co-workers, administrators and patients. Pride in who we are as an organization is part of that. We should be able to look at others and tell them almost literally: "Because you work at Stanford, you and I share something in common and I respect and like you for that."
Two years ago, as I took over as medical staff president from my colleague Chuck Feldman, we were focused on making UCSF Stanford Health Care a smoothly running and integrated operation.
We sometimes asked ourselves, "Could such an integration be accomplished?"
I remember well the first Deputy Chiefs/Medical Staff Task Force meeting just after the merger nearly two years ago. We all voiced concerns and hopes for Stanford and Packard, including an oft-cited observation that at Stanford we no longer had a chief medical officer (CMO). I, for one, was convinced that every first-rate hospital needs a CMO who comes in the front door of the hospital every day and is intimately involved with the physicians and the complex challenges of running a university medical center. We had lost that crucial person.
Stanford and Packard have continued to do well, however, effectively serving our community, the region and beyond. Malinda Mitchell and her colleagues deserve much of the credit for keeping the place working effectively and for keeping us on the profit side of the ledger. Chief of staff Larry Shuer, the medical staff committees and hospital staff have given unselfish effort and time to lead the rest of us.
Now, our on-site CMO has been restored. Peter Gregory is back. As we say in Silicon Valley, a crucial chip in our circuits has been re-inserted.
Still, there are questions about the merger as we attempt to learn what effect operational deficits at one or more units in the system might have had on the organization as a whole and on our own hospitals. What direction should the institutions, joined by a challenging intercultural marriage, take in the coming years? Can we take advantage of the many realized and potential benefits of the merger while we fix problems?
I am convinced that Stanford and Packard medical staff members must be concerned about the merger and our relationships with sister institutions and colleagues in the system. Nevertheless, we have tangible work to do here at home, nurturing programs and cutting back expenses where we can and must. We must continue our commitment to our patients, the institution and our colleagues and co-workers. If these mantras are beginning to sound like a clichˇ, it's only because they are so true, so vital - and so often disregarded.
The bottom line is we have plenty of reason to burst with pride about this place, to make it the best medical center in the country. And, yes, now the metaphor has become literal. We even have a benefit to help us along.
For starters, Bloomingdale's department store at Stanford Shopping Center will host a benefit for Stanford University Medical Center on Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. [See: special event article.]
We should try to attend. We'll see you at "the benefit." You don't need to wear a suit and tie or cocktail dress and there's plenty of time for a movie or dinner nearby afterward. Show the pride. Think globally, act locally.
