Tuesday, October 05, 2010

I was utterly transformed

I was utterly transformed by the power of the patient’s . . . perspective on what mattered most in care and I could see that this was a strength that we were denying ourselves as executive leadership.

This quote is from Pat Sodomka, who died early this year, and is retold in this post by Ted Eytan. More here, too, from Jim Conway.

Ted asks:

It’s possible for any hospital to enjoy the breakthrough performance that MCG has through the lessons learned from Pat’s legacy. I’m looking forward to it. . . . [W]ho wants to join?

We're trying, Ted. Stay tuned.

2 comments:

Barbara said...

I had the good fortune of speaking with Pat via telephone when we were first thinking about beginning our patient/family centered journey. She was incredibly generous with her time, spending close to an hour talking with me. I learned a lot from her in that call and am saddened to learn of her premature death.

Jim Conway said...

Good morning. Any day that starts with recollections of Pat is a wonderful day. Thanks for sharing the tribute...

I was teaching with my IHI colleagues yesterday in DC (Reinertsen, Orlikoff, and Norling)in an IHI Boards on Board 2-day program. Patient and family centered care was on the agenda as was health reform and a lot more. As I was leaving the meeting yesterday one of the trustees turned to me and said "You know, I've been reminded over the last few days that if we keep our eye on what's best for the patient and family through all of this change, we WILL figure it out." That's an AMEN that would get a very big smile from Pat.

Best wishes, Jim